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/ PRINCIPLES 



'TEACHING, 



J. T. GAINES. 



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Are You 

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If so, send the names of 10 young men whom you 
think could be influenced to attend this College, 
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Library of Education. 



JA.NUA.RV. 1881. 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 






BY 



1^ 



J. T. GAINES. 




? ^ 



" To make wisdom available for all emergencies it is necessary to re-create for the individual 
the experience of the sage who indites it." 



(COPYRIGHT. ISeO.) 



CINCINNATI, O.: 

TEACHBRS' CO-OPERATIVE PUBLISHING CO. 

1891. 



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A number will contain from 48 to 96 double-column octavo pages ; be well 
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the battle-grounds of various hostile theories, but that they shall present such a 
discussion of the given subject that will satisfy the thinking teacher who is seek- 
ing for a consistent and logical system in the bewildering mass of educational 
literature. The following are now in preparation, and will appear during the 

coming year. 

Literature in the Public Schools. 

A criticism of the present methods of teaching reading, together with the 
presentation of a new methpd of using literature, by Prof. F. L. PaTTEE, of 

New Hampshire. 

Civics. 

A siudy of the various methods of teaching citizenship, together v;ith a 
method and materials for presenting the subject to classes in graded and un- 
graded schools, by T. M. Goodkxight, A. M., Kentucky. 

Arithmetic. 

A complete guide for teaching arithmetic so as to develop character, by 
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Materials and methods for teaching geology by observation, PROF. W. E. 
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being prepared by Supt. N. W. Hailman, of Indiana. 

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Management of Country Schools. 

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(ii) 




THE various numbers of the I/ibrary of Education are prepared by the Educa- 
tional Reform Association, an organization which aims to determine whether 

the science of education can be applied to school work and to form a com- 
plete wcrking theory of education. The fundamental principles of the organiza- 
tion are (i) That education should be subject to the control and super\-ision of 
the State. (2) That State education should aim only incidentally, to secure intel- 
lectual proficiency and commercial results, and, primarily, to develop character, 
which is the true basis of national greatness. (3) That a school system that does 
not recognize the individual pupil is intolerable. 

Under the guidance of these principles, experienced teachers and committees 
of teachers, representing every shade of educational thought, are investigating 
the whole field. The investigations are to include the history and present status 
of educational practices as well as the literature of the subject. 

Every number before it is published is subject to the revision of a specially 
appointed committee of actual teachers, whose endorsement it must have. 



Editorial Committee"s Certificate. 

The undersigned, having been appointed a committee to report on Principles 
ill Teaching, h\ J. T. Gaines, unanimously recommend its publication. 

John Burke, 
R. M. Mitchell, 
C. G. Hammond, 
E. W. Weaver. 



(iii) 



Preface 



The principles of teaching formulated in the last chapter of this 
monograph are substantially the same as those announced as postulates 
in Pedagogics: A New Theory and Practice hi Teachmg Intellect and 
Character, published about a year ago by Allen & Gaines. 

I wish here to acknowledge obligations to Col. R. D. Allen, of Lou- 
isville Millitary Academy, for much assistance he has given me in the 
preparation of this work. . 

The illustrative lessons given in the body of the work are faithful 
descriptions of actual lessons, or series of lessons given in the school 
room, in so far, as a direction to do, -can be a description of something 
done. 

For errors in style or language I must beg the indulgence of my 
readers. It is impossible to put one's ideas in writing so that they will 
be understood by a reader, unless both reader and writer have the same 
motive in looking at the subject discussed, and look at it also from the 
same point of view. Knowing this and believing that the great major- 
ity of my readers would differ with me, perhaps, if I announced my 
positions in a formal way at the outset, as is usual in such treatises as 
this, and that, therefore, my task would be less difficult if I should " put 
the cart before the horse," I have done so, and asked them to experi' 
ment under my directions just as a teacher does with children, reaching 
the conclusion I do with me at the end. 

Desiring to get into as confidential relations as possible with my 
readers, I have written the entire work in the first person. 

The Author. 



(iv) 



Contents, 



7 
9 
14 
16 
18 
18 

19 
20 
21 



Chap. I. What is a Principle ? .^ . 

Chap. II. Functions and 7ivolution of Principles, . 

Chap. III. Directing a Principle in its Evolution, 

Nature's Method of Teaching, 

Chap. IV. Illustrative Lessons ; Word Teaching, 

Example i . Retaining words, . 

2. Generic meanings, 

" 3. Words as signs of ideas, 

" 4. Prefixes and Sufiixes, 

Chap. V. Illustrative Lessons ; Reading and Spelling, . 22 

Example i. Getting information, .22 

" 2. Giving information, ... 24 

" 3. How to spell correctly, . . .25 

Chap. VI. Illustrative Lessons ; Language, . . . .28 

Example i. Writing, 29 

2. Law of identity, .... 29 
" 3. Sentence writing, . . . .32 

4. Story writing, • • • • 33 

" 5. Description, . . . . .34 

" 6. Synopsis, 38 

" 7. Composition, . . . . .39 

Building a Vocabulary, 40 

Chap. VII. Illustrative Lessons ; Grammar 42 

Example i . Analysis, 43 

" 2. Classification, 45 

" 3. Properties of parts of speech. 47 

" 4. Parsing, . . • .48 

Chap. VIII. Illustrative Lessons ; Geography and History, . 50 

Example i . How to study maps 50 

" 2. How to study the text, . . 51 

3. How to get information, . . .53 

4. Retention and recollection, . . 55 
Chap. IX. Illustrative Lessons ; Arithmetic, . . . .56 

Example i . Number, 56 

Chap. X. Conclusion, 5^ 



Introduction 



This monograph is intended to answer the question, " What is 
teaching?" in a practical way. It was written to help yonng teachers 
to understand how the}- may interest children in school work, how they 
may insure development in ever}- one under their charge, and how 
they may make what they do in giving lessons to children, bear fruit in. 
the characters of those children, which characters are all the time 
developing under their hands. 

But while it is intended primarih' as has been stated to benefit 
young teachers, it is thought that it will also serve to systematize the 
knowledge derived from years of experience. "We learn to do by doing." 
Experience is necessary to make a good teacher, but it is not every one 
who is competent to observe properly the details of his own work, and 
to make the proper inferences from them for principles to guide his 
future work. 

The illustrations given in this work are given as a study for all. 
The old teacher will perhaps recognize in them lessons he has given from 
time to time. The young teacher if he wishes to read this monograph 
with profit, must experiment by giving the lessons suggested. In no 
other way will it be possible to make the observations and comparisons 
that will be suggested. In no other way can the inexperienced reader 
put himself in position for assimilating anj' proper principle for teach- 
ing. In accordance with true inductive teaching, the principles advo- 
cated will be announced last. In fact the whole work is planned as a 
series of inductions, by which the reader if he performs the experi- 
ments suggested, and gives the lessons incorporated as part of the 
treatise, will be led to make the assimilations announced as principles 
in the closing chapter. 



(vi) 



R1.NCIPLES m f BACHING. 



CHAPTER I. 

WHAT IS A PRINCIPLE? 



\ I J HERE are principles in every 
^-1^ science and teaching is now 
called a science. Is it a science 
with you, my reader? Have you 
obser\'ed your own work and the 
work of others so well that you 
know exactly what to do as teacher 
in every case, in order that your 
pupils may be able to grasp an idea 
unknown to them? If not, then 
you are not a scientific teacher, 
but an experimenter. We are all 
experimenters at first, and doubt- 
less all make blunders. He who 
perceives his blunders and changes 
his methods will become a scien- 
tific teacher, he who is blind to his 
mistakes will remain an experi- 
menter. Young teachers are gen- 
erally experimenters; it is to be 
hoped that all the young teachers 
who read this monograph desire to 
become experts and not to remain 
experimenters. 

This treatise is written for the 
benefit of all, both young and old, 
who, knowing they have faults, 
desire to correct them. Are you 
willing to learn? Then (i) read, 
(2) conduct the experiments sug- 
gested, (3) compare with former 
experiences of your own, with 
what you have heard experts say 
in institutes, and- with what you 
have read in books or papers here- 
tofore. Do this and you will be 
able to formulate principles of 
teaching for yourself. 



My aim is to convince the under- 
standing of my readers, rather than 
have them take my advice unques- 
tioned. 

And now to begin at the founda- 
tion, let us ascertain if we can 
what a principle is. 

You have read about the Charter 
Oak; have you ever heard or read 
anything about its roots, or its 
leaves, or its trunk, or its bark? 
Did it have these? You are pre- 
pared to saj^ certainly it had; 
without doubt you can picture to 
yourself the oak as it stood, trunk 
upright andtall, leaves and branches 
swayed by the breezes, and roots 
spreading from the base taking a 
firm hold in the soil. When I ask 
you why, you are ready with the 
answer, "Every tree has leaves, 
branches, roots, bark and a trunk." 

Your answer in this case is a 
principle formulated. How did 
3^ou arrive at the knowledge origi- 
nally? Did some one tell it to you, 
and did you learn it by heart, or 
did you arrive at it through obser- 
vations made by your own senses? 

It is clear that you learned the 
truth formulated above through 
your own observations ; now what 
things did you observe? Were 
they not trees? Was it not the 
likeness in all the trees you encoun- 
tered that impressed itself upon 
you and caused you to assimilate 
the truth noted above ? 



(7) 



8 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



Right here, before further inves- 
tigation, a little digression is nec- 
essary, in order to make clear 
what telling is, and what things 
can and ought to be told. Some 
one originally must have told you 
that an object present to 3^our 
senses was a tree. After that you 
were able to call other objects that 
resembled it trees, without being 
told. In order to be able to call 
others by the same name you must 
have detected points of resem- 
blance in the various trees you 
encountered. These resemblances 
as discovered needed names in 
order to retention by your mind. 
You no doubt asked from time to 
time for their names, or bearing 
them in mind, noticed what people 
called them and thus learned the 
names without direct questioning. 
Somebody told you the names of 
the parts of a tree, no one told you 
that they were parts; no one could 
have told you that. 

After learning (assimilating) the 
truth above, you tried to impart 
your knowledge to your mother 
perhaps. She understood you and 
corrected your lisping utterance, 
put it perhaps into another idiom ; 
she told you what to say and in 
what order to say it. Or again, 
you bore your truth in mind until 
such time as you heard some older 
person give expression to a similar 
truth, and noticing his form and 
copying it you were able to voice 
yours. 

Again, after you had gone to 
school and had learned to write, 
your teacher one day asked you to 
write about a tree. You wrote out 
what is stated above not in that 
form — you doubtless left out the 
commas and put in ands, you spelled 
some of the words wrong perhaps. 
Your teacher told you — no ; he had 
to show you by giving you his copy 



to compare with yours — where to 
put commas, how to write words 
you had misspelled, etc. He did 
not tell you the truth learned; no 
one could tell you that. 

But to return to our investigation 
about principles. If I were to say 
in your hearing that I had seen 
Charter Oak in full leaf and bear- 
ing acorns in January, would you 
not pronounce the statement false ? 
And why? Because oaks in New 
England drop their leaves and 
acorns in autumn. Another prin- 
ciple this is; how did you assimi- 
late it? Somebody, we will say, 
after you had reached the age when 
you had learned to give a meaning 
to certain forms of expression irres- 
pective of their separate words, i. e., 
you could say for certain, know- 
ing the meaning of drop and their, 
and not knowing the meaning of 
leaves and oaks, that something had 
dropped that was an essential part 
of the other unknown thing. 
Somebody, then, after you were 
acquainted with all the elementary 
facts in this principle, unrelated to 
each other, in your hearing let out 
the expression above. Attaching 
a meaning to the idiom or exact 
relation of the words, then you 
were able to comprehend what he 
meant, or, to speak more strictly, 
you were able to coin a meaning 
for yourself. Had you at this stage 
assimilated the principle ? I would 
say not. You were no doubt 
inclined to receive it as truth, but 
it needed proof. You doubtless 
reser\'ed judgment on it. You 
bore it in mind until your eyes 
proved it true; no one can tell a 
principle to aiiother. 

Now lay aside this chapter you 
are reading and pause to think and 
experiment. Do j^ou yet clearly 
understand what a principle is? 
and how you assimilate them ? and 



FUNCTIONS AND EVOLUTION OF PRINCIPLES. 



how necessary the)' are in under- 
standing what we read? and how 
much aid they give us in learning 
other principles? and how useful 
they are to us in enabling us to 
separate wheat from chaff in our 
studies? If you can give the re- 
quired answer to these questions, 
if you can say yes to all these, then 
you are ready to sigh and say: 
"Oh, I wish that my teacher had 
given me more principles and less 
detached facts to learn." 

But yoi are not read}'^ yet to 
take up the threads of this argu- 
ment. Her2 is another experiment 
for you : write out a half dozen 
principles you have learned — not 
memorized ones that you are yet 
taking on faith — but real bona fide 
principles that you learned origi- 
nally without a teacher, or that you 
have proven by observation since 
you learned to "parrot" them in 
school. Write out one in the sci- 
ence of reading (learning to read), 
one in spelling, one in geography, 
one in grammar, one in arithmetic 
and one in physiolog}'. 

* ;{< ;K >;; 

Will, how did you succeed? It 
was a sad jumble at first, was it 
not? Now for another experiment : 
Take your six principles and recall 
the proces ; by which you arrived 
at the truth in each. Hold your 
attention to this task till you recall 
the minute details of each experi- 



ence. The}' are all in memory and 
will come back if you call for them 
long enough. Then compare the 
six experiences one with another, 
and each with all, and answer the 
following questions about each: 

Did you have to observe ')nore 
than one object in order to arrive 
at your conclusion in each case? 
Is your conclusion the expression 
of a resemblance that you have per- 
ceived as adhering to each of the 
objects observed ? 



Now if 3'ou have faithfully ob- 
served directions and find that 
your answer is affirmative to both 
questions above, then you do know 
what a principle is, and I think if 
you will try you can write a fair 
definition of it. 

But I have one other experiment 
for you before attempting to eluci- 
date any principle for teaching 
which as its title indicates is the 
purpose of this treatise. 

The experiment is this: Formu- 
late i. e., write out your definition 
of principle, and open your text 
books. Take the principles therein 
set forth in the form of rules, 
definitions, remarks, notes, etc., 
and test a hundred or more of them 
by 3^our definition. This will be a 
good experiment for you, as it will 
serve to make you know well what 
vou have learned. 



CHAPTER II. 

FUNCTIONS AND EVOLUTION OF PRINCIPLES. 

PROM the preceding chapter Men and trees stand erect ; why ? 
of this treatise those who If we can understand one, the other 
have read it carefully, especially if is explained by the same law. 



they have performed the experi- 
suggested, are prepared to grant 
that a principle inheres in every 
habitual action and in the evolution 
of every created thing. 



A workman builds a house; he 
patterns it in all its essential parts 
after similar parts of houses that 
already exist ; he follows a principle. 

A child gives expression to a 



lO 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



thought — originates a sentence, we 
.say ; he only constructs, as does 
the carpenter in building the house ; 
The words he uses like the doors, 
windows, walls and other parts of 
the house are similar to others 
already in use. He but fits them 
to a plan as does the carpenter. 
That .skeleton plan, the idiom in 
which he chooses to express him- 
self, is the principle upon which he 
builds. Without it he must stand 
mute, as the carpenter mu.st stand 
idle till he forms his plan. 

Principles become rules for ac- 
tion; originate it in a certain sense. 
Like the wind to the sail, like the 
water to the wheel, like the spring 
to the watch, so is the principle to 
action. The boat, the wheel, the 
watch stand idle till the wind, the 
water and the spring put them in 
motion. So the tongue is mute, 
the senses are listless, the body is 
inert, action is delayed till the will 
chooses a principle. 

Law governs and directs in the 
smallest things as in the greatest ; 
" the fall of a .sparrow and the cir- 
cling of the spheres are alike under 
the .supervision of that one Intelli- 
gence that pervades the universe, 
that creates laws. 

The truth of what has been elab- 
orated above will not be apparent 
except to those who have given 
much thought and observation to 
the causes of things. He who has 
had the same thoughts I have ex- 
pressed will understand what I 
have written, he who has not inves- 
tigated already must do so now in 
order to understand the relations 
of principle to action, which is the 
objective point I hope to reach wnth 
all my readers. Without clearly 
understanding these relations no 
one need ever expect to become a 
true teacher. He who remains in 
ignorance of them will toil as an 



artisan to the end. His being will 
never thrill with the emotions the 
arti.st feels in contemplating his 
work. 

I affirm that in all action, law 
or principle controls. 

Action is used to include aU doing. Volun- 
tary and involuntary motion, and that subtle 
doing called thinking, of which we can hardly 
predicate motion, are alike included in its 
meaning. 

Let us prove the truth by expe- 
periences common to all : 

A human being wakes from sleep 
in the morning. He begins to 
meditate ; memory brings yesterday 
with its failures and successes be- 
fore him; the noises of the morning 
hour bring to-day into the presence 
of yesterday. Out of this hurly- 
burly of sensations there finally 
emerges into consciousness a defi- * 
nite, "I must," The awakened 
intellect has adopted a course of 
action, a rule, a principle, and 
movement is po.ssible. 

Need I illustrate farther? Is it 
not plain that all voluntary bodily 
actions are dictated by the mind in 
obedience to laws of its own enact- 
ment? There is an "I must" respon- 
sible for each and every action of 
our lives. Wheresoever one may 
go, into peril or into safety, into 
fortune or into povert^^ he is ever 
led by his will in obedience to the 
regar command "I must," voiced 
by his judgment. Mistakes he 
may make, every one does so. The 
histor}' of every life is but the 
record of a series of blunders. 
Success is won by correcting past 
errors, by adopting new principles 
for guidance. 

All this has been written with 
the end in view of getting my 
reader to think upon himself, upon 
his body, the slave of his will, 
upon his will, the slave of his pas- 
sions and appetites, and upon his 



FUNCTIONS AND EVOLUTION OF PRINCIPLES 



royalintellect which can say to all 
these, "you must" and they obey. 
I have desired to awaken observa- 
tion in detail as to how the every- 
day tasks of life are accomplished. 
If I have done so I think that each 
reader is now convinced that prin- 
ciple has all to do with life. But 
before going further it would be 
well to tell, if I can, what I mean 
by prhiciple. 

The mind controlling the move- 
ments of the body must continually 
be deciding what to do next. These 
deciding acts are based upon data 
which the mind holds. In each 
case the mind decides as it thinks 
best for itself. It makes a law for 
itself at ever}' step. It says "I 
must," and then acts. Each " I 
must" is a principle if fully formu- 
lated. 

The experience of generations 
of men record themselves in prov- 
erbs. These are chrystallized wis- 
dom and are useful principles for 
guidance. 

"A rolling stone gathers no 
moss," comprehended by a young 
man dictates an "I must" that 
puts him to gathering moss. 

Now, whether my idea coincides 
with yours or not, my reader, as to 
what a principle is, I am very sure 
that you will agree that if every " I 
must," a boy may dictate to him- 
self after he leaves school shall be 
truly for his temporal and eternal 
welfare, then he has been truly 
educated by his teacher. 

Let us not quarrel over terms 
but get on to the real work of 
determining what to do with our 
boys and girls, and how to do it. 

Every one wishes his boy to 
become a man of principle. What 
does it mean this time ? Every one 
will agree in saying that it means 
he wishes him to become a man 
who will decide right and do right. 



Now have we not reached by 
this answer the true end of educa- 
tion? I think so assuredly, and 
hence I desire to emphasize the 
importance of teaching principles 
rather than isolated facts in school. 
Every school task should have for 
its objective point the learning of 
some useful principle in ethics or 
science, just as every daily happen- 
ing by adding to our store of 
experiences makes us year by year 
wiser and wiser if we learn the 
lessons they teach. If we learn ! 
Alas ! how many fail to profit by 
their experiences ! lyike foolish 
, fish they nibble again at the hooks 
that just now wounded them. 

One who fails to profit by his 
experiences has been poorl}- educa- 
ted. Does school' teaching have 
anything to do with making a per- 
son profit by his experiences? It 
ought to, my reader, more than it 
does, it grieves me to say, because 
teachers teach too little by principle 
and too few of principles. 

Whether man was created just 
as he is or whether he has by 
degrees progressed to his present 
regal position among animals, it is 
nevertheless true that he is capable 
of yet further development, espe- 
cially in his moral nature. 

Cotton Mather would be deposed 
from the ministry to-day in New 
England, and a proposition to re- 
enslave the blacks would be shock- 
ing to the sensibilities of the 
Southern people. These facts show 
that we are even now progressing 
in our moral judgments. Principles 
that dictated our acts a generation 
ago are rejected or modified now. 

But who is it that improves? Is 
it not he who us&s his whole mental 
power in discovering truth? Is it 
not he who has been trained to 
perceive, to compare, and to de- 
duce? 



12 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



Mental decipline makes the suc- 
cessful, the progressive man; this 
the school is designed to give. 
Does it fulfill the end for which it 
was established? Every boy goes 
to school; does every boy leave 
school better equipped to make 
good use of his experiences? If he 
does not then the school itself needs 
to profit by its blunders, to amend 
its principles. 

As the title of this chapter indi- 
cates, I have intended to discuss 
"the functions and evolution of 
principles." My discussion of the 
functions is ended. I have demon- 
strated to my own satisfaction if 
not to yours that the human Mall 
acts under self-enacted law at all 
times, and hence that all teaching 
should be aimed at exercising those 
powers of the mind which lead to 
proverb-making, or what the psy- 
chologists would call perceiving the 
general in the particular. 

I must yet discuss the evolution 
of a principle in the mind. And 
in order to understand what I shall 
say, it will be necessary for my 
readers to experiment a little. 

Take this old saw, "The early 
bird catches the worm," or Shake- 
spere's, " Who steals my purse 
steals trash," etc., etc. Or take 
some other example of condensed 
wisdom. Meditate upon it until 
you are thoroughl}^ possessed of an 
idea. 

It may or may not be, more than 
likely it is not, the idea the author 
had when he wrote it; did this 
notion ever occur to you before? 

Ask yourself what you know 
about it. After determining exactly 
what you do know, then ask your 
memory to recall* the facts that 
contributed to that knowledge. 
Then (and this is the important 
point), please note if all the facts 
or particulars are not in your own 



experiences. Not in what you 
have read or been told, but in your 
seeing and feeling and smelling 
and tasting and hearing experi- 
ences. 

I am assured that experience is 
the true teacher, because when I 
have traced back my working 
knowledge to its sources, in every 
case I have found it to be based on 
ray individual experiences. I have 
years ago quit trying to teach " by 
precept and by example." I use 
precept still, not as a truth to be 
obeyed, but as something worthy 
of a test. I once said, "You must 
not swear, it degrades you in the 
eyes of men," and expected my 
pupil to believe it and obey it. 
Now I say, " I think if 5-ou will 
notice in what esteem a swearer is 
held by all good people that you 
will not dare to indulge in it. " 

I add one remark right here 
upon the "example" question be- 
fore taking up the main discussion. 
One of the most impressive expe- 
riences that contributed to the for- 
mation in my own mind of the 
resolve, "I must not be a drunk- 
ard," was the spectacle of my own 
teacher drunk. I am sure that the 
evil "example" for which he lost 
his place wrought good in me. I 
hope no one will think I am advis- 
ing any teacher to get drunk in 
order to make sober men of his boys. 
I hope every teacher will remain 
sober not as an "example" to the 
boys but for his own sake. 

I hold that all our working prin- 
ciples are deduced from our experi- 
ences. They are subject to constant 
modifications as new experiences 
indicate a more perfect rule. I 
once hunted a hard place to sleep 
on, now I prefer a soft bed. I once 
bought a horse without examining 
his eyes, now I take a good look 
at them. Once I used to multiply 



FUNCTIONS AND EVOLUTION OF PRINCIPLES. 



15 



by 3 twice and divide by it once 
and add the three results to find 
33^ per cent., now I have dis- 
covered a much simpler way. 

Once I used to write qts. for 
quarts, now I am content with qt. 
Once I cured my colds by taking a 
cold bath, now I could not risk 
such a remedy. 

Shall I go on multiplying examples 
of application of principles ? Have 
I not given enough to indicate that 
all we do under the dominion of 
intellect is shaped by what we have 
done before, and is corrected con- 
tinually by the influences of new 
experiences ? What is manual skill 
but a perfected rule of execution? 
What is intellectual power but 
bringing phenomena into order? 
What is moral excellence but obe- 
dience to the dictates of wisdom? 
We work, we think, and we behave 
by rule if we are truly educated. 
Can I venture to close thisparagraph 
by announcing a principle which I 
trust 3'our experiences will enable 
you to approve? You must: 

Arrange a full set of workmg 
principles for your pupils and bring 
about experiences that will enable 
them to grasp them. 

In the next chapter but one to 
this, practical lessons will be begun 
for you to experiment with. Before 
taking up this actual " getting ex- 
perience" for yourself, I would 
earnestly recommend that you read 
again from the beginning to this 
point. And I would urge upon 
you the importance of experiment- 
ing with yourself by trying to 
arrange a set of working princi- 
ples, in one branch of study at 
least, before reading farther. A 
working principle is a judgment 
upon observations of detached but 
related happenings. It is a demand 
so well learned that the will obeys 
it without question — automatically 



in fact. It is a rule that we rarely 
put into words; children as well as 
grown folks are guided by working 
principles in all their habitual 
actions. I once heard a little girl 
say to her brother, "The next 
time I cry and get ginger bread, I 
won't give you any!" Who can 
assert that that little girl had not 
an effective rule for getting ginger 
bread? If asked how to get it she 
would undoubtedly have answered, 
" I must cry for it." 

And so the boy who knows how 
to write must possess the knowledge 
— founded on experience — which is 
the equivalent of saying*: " I must 
dot my i's and cross my t's, I must 
make my t's and d's twice as high 
as my m's, and my I's and h's three 
times as high, I must commence 
every word on the line and end it 
at the height of my m's, I must 
begin each word vertically under- 
neath the end of the preceding one, 
I must slant my letters uniformally, 
and I must connect my letters." 
This he must know and more be- 
sides, and know it so well that his 
will obeys automaticall3^ It might 
be possible to get him to formulate 
his rules, but would he remember 
them any ^ better for that ? My 
teacher made me learn a lot of 
"why's ' once as a, preparation for 
parsing a noun, and made me re- 
peat them to him. But I did not 
use them nor have I ever formu- 
lated those I use to-day. I learned 
my rules for parsing under that 
very teacher by listening to a boy 
named Baker, who knew how to 
parse already. 

I am sure that many valuable 
hours are wasted in requiring chil- 
dren to repeat definitions and rules, 
which are dead letters to them, 
simply because it is against nature 
to expect to engraft a truth as a 
working principle in any other way 



H 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



than through observations by the 
child, of his own experiences. 
The teacher can, and must if he 
succeeds, decide what are the prin- 
ciples belonging to an}^ science in 
which he is training the intellect 
of his pupil. Knowing this to be 
an imperative essential to success 



with every one who teaches, and 
knowing moreover how prone 
teachers are to run in ruts, I de- 
sire to emphasize this in order to 
jostle you up a little, by forcing 
you to get on the boy's side of the 
fence, and see your work as he 
sees it. 



CHAPTER III. 



DIRECTING A PRINCIPLE IN ITS EVOLUTION. 



IN the preceding chapter to this 
I discussed at some length the 
functions and evolution of princi- 
ples. Principles as guides were 
claimed to be necessary to all doing 
and the fact that they are born in 
the intellect of personal experi- 
ences was emphasized. 

Now, if my readers are willing 
to grant the truth of these founda- 
tion propositions, they will not dis- 
sent from what I am going to say 
now, nor will they object to the 
illustrations I shall give of the 
teacher's work in causing a princi- 
ple to take root in the mind of a 
pupil. I do not expect general 
assent to the propositions above 
because I see every day violations 
of them in practice. I am willing 
to grant that some who violate 
them do so blindly, and this is the 
class I am seeking to help. Others 
are joined to their idols and I can 
not hope to reach them. When I 
hear a teacher telling his pupils 
over and over how to divide, how 
to add, how to tell whether a noun 
is in this or that case, how to use 
his voice in reading, how to form 
his letters in writing, in fact how 
everything is to be done, I feel 
sure if he has been doing so a 
number of years that it will be 
almost impossible to convince him 
that another is a better way for his 
pupil's welfare, which task I have 



set for mj'self to accomplish with 
that class of my readers who are 
young in experience and confes- 
sedly inexpert as to the influence 
of methods in educating. 

To understand clearly the lessons 
which follow, you must imagine 
yourself in front of your class at 
the threshold of a task that is new 
to them. It may be that they are 
to learn to use a new word, to learn 
to write from dictation, to learn 
multiplication, to learn a lesson in 
politeness, to learn to read a para- 
graph, to do in fact one of the 
multitude of little things teachers 
are continually requiring of their 
pupils. To do any one task as a 
single example in multiplication, 
or a single paragraph in reading 
ivcll and right, will be a beginning 
of experiences to the pupil in that 
field of knowledge. Repetition of 
examples, (experiences) will in the 
end cause the how and why (prin- 
ciple) of that process to engraft 
itself in his mind. 

Thus imagining 3'ourself deter- 
mines the fact that you must have 
arranged with yourself just what 
principle 3'ou were going to present 
at that lesson. Your having made 
a selection determines that you 
must have consulted in advance as 
to what the future welfare of your 
pupil requires, and that you have 
selected somethinof for liim to learn 



DIRECTINti A PRINCIPLE IN ITS EVOLUTION. 



15 



that lie will have frequent use for 
in his life. 

Now, having determined your 
relations to the pupil and to the 
lesson contemplated, it is necessary 
to determine his relations to you, 
and to the lesson. In this case you 
must put yourself in his place in 
imagination. If you (the pupil) 
are to be benefited to the maximum 
by the lesson, are not all the 
powers of your intellect to be exer- 
cised during its progress ? Are you 
not to have opportunities to ob- 
serve, to compare, and to judge? 
If these are afforded you at each 
lesson, will it not be easy for you 
to hold your attention to the task 
set by the teacher? Will your mind 
not remain throughout in that re- 
flective state which will evolve an 
"I must" as the result of your 
labors? Will you, if these neces- 
sary condition are fulfilled by your 
teacher, have any more difficulty 
in remembering the experiences of 
a lesson than in recalling the inci- 
dents and scenes of an afternoon 
ramble ? 

In my opinion no teaching effort 
can be in any great degree success- 
ful unless the teacher understands 
clearly the attitude of the pupil to 
the thing to be learned, which atti- 
tude I have attempted to outline 
by the questions above. Another 
point needs to be emphasized. It 
is this : The first step taken by a 
pupil in learning a new principle 
must itself be dictated by a principle 
already learned. I said in a former 
chapter that in all action law or 
principle controls, and I hold that 
it applies to first steps as well as 
advanced steps. I have sometimes 
thought that a child inherits the 
principle of imitation. At an age 
which psychologists are hardly 
willing to grant that his reason is 
developed at all his willful actions 



show that he says to himself, "I 
can safely venture to do this and I 
must refrain from that because my 
mother and father, and brothers 
and sisters, who are like me, do 
these things or refrain from those." 

This is a working principle with 
every child, and in some form it is 
the motive power that inclines his 
will to go about his school tasks. 

As preliminary to the lessons I 
shall give I wish to show by an 
experiment that there are certain 
working principles belonging to 
each department of school instruc- 
tion without a thorough drill in 
which there can be no assured ex- 
cellence. 

Dictate to any one who is able 
to write it correctly the following 
sentence : " A little boy ihreiv his 
sister Marf s hat on the floor. ^'' 
Examine the result as to the num- 
ber of principles applied in its 
execution. Many children less 
than ten years old could success- 
full}' accomplish the task of writ- 
ing it correctly. Now does doing 
this not require a knowledge of all 
the principles indicated in mono- 
logue form below, and perhaps 
others ? 

" I must^ begin it with a capital 
letter and'^ end it with a period. I 
must' begin the name Mary with a 
capital, and* place the (') apos- 
trophe and s after it. I must' make 
the rs,b's, /^'j•, y'.y, three times as 
long as the ds, o's, n's, etc. I must® 
make the fs, and d's extend twice, 
as high as the small letters. I 
must' commence each word at the 
base line, and* end it at the height 
of the small letters. I must" begin 
each word on the .base line verti- 
cally under the close of the preced- 
ing word. I must^** use the form 
" threw" and not the regular form 
to tell the fact." 

I claim that a proper application 



x6 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



of the teacher's art will cause the 
pupil to acquire these working 
principles by completely exercising 
the powers of his intellect. Any 
practice that falls short of thus 
exercising his powers fails to de- 
velop his intellect, and thereby 
makes it possible for him to forget 
much of what he has seemed to learn. 

There are two plans to pursue : 
One is to tell the pupil a principle, 
the other is to cause him to dis- 
cover it by applying the powers of 
his intellect to experiences that 
his teacher contrives for him, The 
one course leaves him timid, uncer- 
tain, and vacillating in their appli- 
cation, the other makes him confi- 
dent and bold in execution. The 
one course stunts him, the other 
promotes his intellectual growth. 

I have spoken above of "com- 
pletely exercising the powers of a 
child's intellect." Some explana- 
tion will be necessary to enable all 
to understand clearly my meaning. 
The intellect of man is by all psy- 
chologists asserted to have various 
powers. These are graded as 
minor and major powers, or as 
inferior and superior. Many clas- 
sifications are given, some writers 
having more powers embraced in 
their schemes than others. 

But while these disagreements 
appear in defining and classif\'ing 
the separate powers of the intellect, 
there is agreement by all in saying 
that the intellect is a. unit. Now 
whether it has one or a dozen 
powers it is certain that the whole 
intellect must be exercised daily, 
in order that a healthy growth be 
kept up. If one organ or one part of 
an organ be not exercised, atrophy 
or disease results. So if one 
power of the intellect be not con- 
tinually exercised, it must become 
weak, and symmetrical growth be 
prevented. 



It follows then that lessons to 
be healthful must exercise a// the 
powers of the intellect, be they one 
or twenty. 

In this regard a teacher should 
take as his guide the dealings of 
mother nature with her children. 
She gives them lessons during all 
their waking hours, lessons that 
are of great utility too. 

Perils of all kinds compass a man 
about from his cradle to his grave, 
perils of poisoning, of drowning, 
of being crushed, of contagion, of 
fire, and of countless others. Yet 
he learns to take care of his life 
amid a thousand threatening dan- 
gers. And he learns it all with no 
other teacher, save that good 
mother who endowed him with 
mental powers sufficient to observe 
his environment, to remember the 
effects of certain actions, to decide 
what is best for himself. 

His education goes on while he 
lives. Each day he sees new ob- 
jects, each day he makes new rules, 
or amends old ones. In nature's 
school there are no inattentive 
pupils, neither is there any learning 
of definitions there. 

If a teacher would model after 
nature, he must study her method 
closely. What are the prominent 
points in that method ? 

First: — Her pupils are free to 
do as they will, that is, they are 
enticed not driven to exercise their 
intellectual powers. A little child 
learns to walk while taking excur- 
sions in pursuit of enticing objects. 
A boy learns to plow while pursuing 
the end of providing good things 
to eat and wear in the future, for 
himself and those he loves. 

Second: — Her lessons invariably 
end in making a law a?id obeying it 
automatically. The falls and bruises 
a little child experiences, make im- 
pressions more lasting on his intel- 



DIRECTING A PRINCIPLE IN ITS EVOLUTION. 



17 



lect than on his body. • He com- 
pares his various mishaps, and safe 
ventures one with the other, strikes 
an average, learns to rise, to stand 
erect and to walk. 

The plowboy's tired limbs, and 
wrenched joints the first day he 
undertakes the task of steering 
Dobbin, are thought objects in his 
memory the next day. He will- 
ingly the next day observes how 
the older plowmen do. He tries 
and succeeds. He makes a rule 
for plowing, and later can plow and 
chat meanwhile with his comrades 
to beguile the weary hours till 
noon. 

Lastly : Nature never intimates 
to a pupil what she is going to 
teach him at any lesson. Nature 
says to the infant, " Come, enjoy 
these pretty things," and lo ! the 
little one learns to walk. So na- 
ture speaking through the father 
says, " Son, we need your help to 
get in the crop, hitch Dobbin to 
the plow." The boy goes forth to 
help his father provide for the 
family, and lo ! he learns to plow. 

Is it too much to say that the 
school's methods should conform 
to nature's in these essential points? 
Can a class of children be taught 
and their wills be left free ? That 
is, can an adequate motive be pro- 
vided to induce them to willingly 
exercise their intellects in any field 
of investigation chosen by the 
teacher? Can a course of lessons 
be provided in school that will end 
as nature's lessons invariably do /;/ 
making rides and obeying them auto- 
matically f 

Can a teacher remain mute as 
nature does in giving lessons, and 
allow his pupils to find for them- 
selves the precious jewels of truth 
towards which he guides them ? 

These things it seems to me are 
possible of accomplishment; such 



is my ideal of teaching. To teach 
a boy to read is to open for him 
the stored wisdom of centuries, to 
teach him geography is to insure 
him a comfortable living, to teach 
him arithmetic is to make him a 
mental athlete. 

But to hold these great ends 
before him as the motive to spur 
him to effort would be wrong be- 
cause he is yet a child and thinks 
as a child. He cares nothing for 
wisdom, because he knows nothing 
of it. He cares not for a living 
for he is well provided for. He 
cares nothing for intellectual skill, 
he dreams only of victories in 
wrestling, or running, or leaping, 
or climbing. 

The great ends noted are the 
lessons the teacher must let him 
learn. He must put him to telling 
his experiences — ever an enticing 
task to a child — and thus lead him 
to wisdom's store house. He must 
appeal to his constructive faculty 
^every child is an inveterate 
builder of castles en Espaque — and 
to his restless desires to be ever on 
the go, to see all places, and to 
enjoy the wonders of nature, in 
order to induct him into a knowl- 
edge of the earth. He must put 
him to doing with his hands — every 
child has the desire to make things, 
every boy wants to find out how 
every thing is made — in order to 
ground him in the principles of 
arithmetic. 

And so for every science in which 
it may be the teacher's lot to 
provide material for intellectual 
growth. There is a purpose in 
having the child take the given 
lessons in the given science. That 
purpose has to do with his future; 
it aims to prepare him for problems 
he is to conquer when a man. It 
cannot move his will now because 
he is vet a child. The teacher 



i8 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



must appeal to some motive that as a benign truth dictated to the 
will set him in action, and let the will by the intellect, the latter hav- 
great end to be accomplished come ing woven its structure out of the 
tohimasallnature'steachingscome, gathered up threads of experience. 

CHAPTER IV. 

ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS. WORD TEACHING. 

EXAMPLE I. problem: TO TEACH A PUPIL THE PRINCIPLE (HOW) 
TO RETAIN A NEW WORD. 



tlti 



HE meaning and form of a 
^ X ^ new word are both to be 
remembered in order to make the 
knowledge available for future 
learning. 

Direction i . Suppose the first 
word to be opposite, and that its 
form is new. Place two things in 
a position which appears to you 
correct, and ask the pupil (or class) 
how one (touching it) is with the 
other. Whatever answers you get 
that are in any way descriptive of 
its position with reference to the 
other object, write them on the 
board and have your pupils write 
them on their slates. You will 
probably get such answers, as: (a) 
near, (b) beyond, (c) this side of, (d) 
to one side of, (e) close to, etc. Use 
your judgment as to which to 
record. 

2. Inquire as words are given 
as to why the word was selected, 
or suggest to the class yourself 
why it was used, thus : " Mary said 
7iear becadse it is not far away. 
John said beyond, because to him it 
is that way, Henry said close to, 
because he sits far back in the 
room, etc." 

3. Move one of the objects into 
the positions described by the fol- 
lowing words, telling the word if 
the children do not suggest it. 
Write each new word in the group 
on the board: (f ) upon, (g) under- 
neath, (h) over, (i) below, etc., etc. 

4. Change the objects to others 



having regular forms, as boxes, 
penholders, children, etc. Place 
the new objects in some of the 
positions already recorded. Record 
the changes suggested as new 
words. Near is very apt to become 
{]) facing and beyond become, (k) 
behind if children are used as ob- 
jects. 

5. Place two of the changed 
objects — as two children — in the 
positions, (1) alongside, (m) facing, 
(n) OPPOSITE, (o) vis-a-vis, etc., giv- 
ing these terms to describe the 
positions as they are arranged in 
tableau, if they are not suggested 
by the children. Add each to the 
group on the board and have it 
copied on the slates. 

6. This is thus far the work with 
one word. It will take ten or fif- 
teen minutes to do this well at 
first. It will be noticed that it also 
teaches other words kindred in 
meaning to the one chosen. The 
next step is to take another word 
as strikes and do with it as with 
the first word. 

For verbs it is better to present the participial 
form, as, striking, leaping, speaking, etc., as this 
is the name form. 

7. Continue the teaching with 
other words, as centers of groups, 
until the children show by their 
habits of work, that they have 
assimilated a rule or method of 
investigation and observation, for 
new words they meet in their 
readers and other text books. 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS WORD TEACHING. 



19 



Many groups will have been pre- 
sented of which (a) opposite, {b) 
striking, {c) beautiful, (d) cahnly, 
{e) fossil, etc., etc., are respectively 
the centers. My observation of 
word teaching shows that children 
need more or less of this drill every 
year, in order to establish good 
habits of study for the spelling 
and reading lessons. 

The material for these lessons can be easily 
selected in advance. The teacher ought to have 
made full preparation when he comes before the 
class. Remember that the aim is not to make 
the child remember the particular words you 
select, and that come out incidentally, but that 
it is to fix a good habit of retentiveness. The 
proper test is not therefore to give him these 
words to spell, or define, or use in sentences, 
but to note his changed habits of work. If 
children form the habits of asking you for the 
meaning of words they hear you use, or that 
they meet in their books, if they ask how this 
or that word that they hear is spelled, and if 
they are frequently seen consulting the diction- 
ary, you may be sure the leaven is working. 
They are assimilating-, and it is now time to 
drop the lessons till such time as they need 
them again lo re-establish habits. 

Example II. 

Problem : To teaeh the principle 
that every ivord has a generic and 
many specific vieani?igs according to 
circumstances. 

1. For this series of lessons 
select words of very general appli- 
cation and familiar in meaning to 
all in the class, for example; {a) 
long, {b) good, ic) r tinning, (V) mouth, 
{e) head, {f) fying, etc., etc. 

2. Supposing the lesson to be 
upon long, write it upon the board, 
thus: LONG i. e., as a title is writ- 
ten, direct the children to copy it 
upon their slates. Now ask the 
children to name for you things 
that are long, and as answers are 
given write the phrases below the 
title, thus: 



etc. 



3. When they cease giving an- 
swers or have given enough for 
the purpose, set up a comparison 
among the different uses of long. 
Ask for instance, "How long is a 
long rope? How much longer is it 
than a long string? Would a string 
as long as the ruler be a lo7ig 
string? What are you always 
thinking about when you use the 
term long?'' Put two pencils to- 
gether and have some one touch 
the lo?ig one. Now put it with 
another of greater length, and ask 
them to select the long one. What 
was long has become short by the 
comparison. 

4. Having established the rela- 
tive meaning that always attaches 
to words of this class, proceed to 
extend the horizon of specific 
meanings by such examples, as: 



in 
id) 

(etc.) 



a long 



I nose, 
I breath, 
J time, 
word, 
walk, 
etc. 



(a) 


a long rope. 


(^) 


a long string. 


(c) 


a long ruler. 


(d) 


a long road. 




etc., etc 



5. Set up a comparison among 
these meanings, and those of the 
first set in order to bring out the 
resemblance in meaning in all of 
them. The name of this resem- 
blance is length, and its name 
should be given after its elements 
are discovered in the examples. 

6. Continue the lessons with 
other words, such as those given 
under direction (i), as types. 

The efficacy of these lessons will be proven if 
the children spend less time than before in con- 
ning their reading lessons. They should be 
continued till the idea is firmly fixed in the 
minds of the pupils that every word has a very 
general meaning, inside of which are mj'riads 
of special meanings. This is one of the work- 
ing principles by which a child manages to 
assimilate meanings through the context. It 
prepares the pupil also to understand poetry ; 
for what is true poetry, but using old terms in 
new applications, thus showing resemblances 
where the mind of the reader had not perceived 
them before? Notice in the following lines the 
special meanings given to the italicised words 
by the genius of the poet. 



20 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



"Go forth to the zvindy headland. 
Where the cypress-trees look down 

Like giants aged and stricken, 

Yet wearing the green-rvood crown. 

Mighty the voices that hail you 
With \.\\^ lore of olden time, 

In the chant of the marching billows, 
A.ndstrofig boughs' answering chime." 
(Harper's Magazine.) 

There is hardly a word in the 
whole extract, but is familiar in 
one meaning to every third reader 
child; how many of them could 
realize the stirring picture the poet 
has drawn? When your pupils 
readily get the meaning of such 
readings, it is a sure sign that your 
work with this principle is bearing 
fruit. 

Example III. 

Problem : To teach the principle 
that words are but sigjis of ideas. 

Much harm is occasionally done 
by giving children spelling lessons 
in words that are not symbols of 
ideas to them. Akin to this in evil 
effects is the practice of having 
children to recite definitions, and 
moral maxims, and gems of poetr>-. 
Printed lines become to these inno- 
cent victims merely representatives 
of certain vocal sounds. Such 
persecuted children rarely ever be- 
come readers of anything else than 
the tra.shiest books. 

A child from the beginning ought 
to be forced to as.sociate a meaning 
with every word he learns to write 
or pronounce. Follow the direc- 
tions below till you have shown 
him the symbols for the words in 
his .speaking vocabulary, and he is 
pretty sure to ihi)ik the principle 
formulated above. 

I. Hold 3'otir knife in presence 
of the cla.ss and let it fall, ask 
what happened and write the an- 
swer on the board, the children 
copying on slates, thus : 

(a) The knife fell. 



2. Substitute a hat for the 
knife and in the same way get: 
{b) The hat fell. 

4. By asking "where" the latter 
becomes : 

(c) The hat fell on the table. 

5. By substitutions and ques- 
tions other changes can be made, 
as below, to any extent that may be 
desired. 

[d) The hat lies on the table. 
{e) The ball lies on the table. 
{A) (/) The ball rolls off the table. 
{g) The ball strikes the floor. 
(ji) The chair strikes the zvall. 
(i) The chair stands7iearihev^a\\. 
etc., etc., etc., etc. 

6. Another example is given 
below of a lesson that can be easily 
improvised with even very young 
children. 

(a) John is a little boy. (b) He 
is not much taller than a chair. 
(r) When he .stands by the 
teacher his head just reaches to 
the teacher's elbow, {d) If he 
[B) wants to write his name on the 
roll of honor, he has to stand 
in a chair, {e) He has curly 
hair, and blue eyes. (/) His 
shoes are always blacked, and 
his clothes bru.shed when he 
comes to school, (g) etc., etc., 
etc., etc. 

7. Other exercises can be con- 
trived by an ingenious teacher to 
.serve the same end, this for in- 
.stance : Let the children go to the 
window and look out. Tell them 
to observe everything that is tak- 
ing place. Let them compare ob- 
servations freel)\ Help them with 
hints j-ourself Ask them to re- 
sume their seats and then sentence 
by sentence, record what has been 
seen as if one penson had witnessed 
it, and was telling it. 

"One day at school the teacher let 
me go to the window. I looked 
out and saw so many thing. A 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS. WORD TEACHING. 



21 



brisk wind was blowing and the 
trees were bending as if they 
(C) would break off". Leaves were 
loosened by the wind and were 
flying everywhere. Dark heavy 
clouds were drifting overhead, 
and while I stood there a shower 
fell. It was funny to see the 
people running to shelter from 
the rain, etc., etc., etc., etc. 

Example IV. 

Problem : To teach the principle 
{ride for changes produced in mean- 
ing^ of prefixes and suffixes. 

To give the children this knowl- 
edge as a working principle, a good 
many lessons are necessary, and 
careful outside preparation on the 
part of the teacher. In the .High 
School course about five months is 
usually devoted to this work. But 
there is no reason why it cannot be 
as well done in the primary school. 
Its importance as affecting the work 
in all subjects in the grammar 
grades would justify its introduc- 
tion. Any text book in etymology 
will be a good guide in arranging 
lessons. 

1 . Take some Latin root 2Aport, 
write it on the board and have the 
children copy. Illustrate its mean- 
ing by action, asking the children 
to observe the action and name it 
in English. Put all the answers 
you recognize as synonyms on the 
board, thus: 

(a) port — carry, bear, convey, 
move, etc. 

2. Ask for words containing the 
root as the main syllable, as fol- 
lows: When one carries merchan- 
dise to another country, what do 
we call his act? When he brings 
merchandise into our country, what 
is the name of the act? How do 
people carry goods across the sea, 
across the Andes ? What is the 
act named in either case ? When 



you carry my opinion home to your 
parents at the end of the session, 
what do you call the paper on 
which it is written? What is my 
act called? etc., etc. 

As the words are found, [in 
many instances it will be necessary 
for the teacher to give them,] record 
them as below on the board, and 
have the children do likewise on 
their slates. 

{a) port-=iQ.'3SX\\ bear, convey, 
move, etc. 

(Jb) ^xport=to carry out of 
(goods.) 

(r)import=to carry m/'c (goods.) 

(d) trans port=:to carry across 
or over. 

(e) re port=a thing carried back. 
{/) re port {v)=^\.o take back a 

message. 

{g) port Qr=^one who carries or 
bears. 

{h) re port &r^=^one who bears 
messages back. 

(i) im port er=w/<" rvho brings 
(goods) into. 

(A) {}) transport (?2)=a ship that 
Ijears loads across. 



across. 

(m) 
ried. 
(^0 



trans port mg = carrymg 

port age=price of bearing, 
port 2i}cAs=^that may be car- 



who 



; := to bear oneself 



be- 



port ly=///^<^ one 
ries or bears. 

{o) con port := to 
like others. 

{p) support^ to h&a.rfrmn 
neath or below. 

{q) sup port ^r=^one who bears 
(supports) another. 

(r) de port (7')=to convey (a 
person) away. 

{s) de port ment=/'//f' act of be- 
having correctly away from home. 

{t) supported=carried asaload. 

(ti) re port ed=:carried back. 

1 have given more examples than are necessary 
with any one root, in order to show how much 



22 



PRINCIPLES IX TEACHING. 



the vocabulary of any one may be increased by 
such lessons. It is not at all necessary to ex- 
haust the list of derivatives in any case. Repe- 
tition of the same work with other roots vifill in 
the e.id fix the meaning of the principal prefixes 
and .suffixes without memorizing. 

3. Continue the work outlined 
with other roots and derivatives, 
as follows. Possible groups are 
suggested. 

(i5) /^r or /rt'/=bear, carry, etc. 



Re fer, re late, trans fer, trans late, 
in fer, prefer, offer, referring, trans- 
lating, related, etc. 

(C) //-«r/=draw, etc. 

Con tract, ex tract, re tract, track, 
tracking. 

{D) tend or /cv/.v^stretch, bend, 
pull, etc. 

Con tend, ex tens ive, tense ly, 
tending, attending, etc., etc. 



CHAPTER V. 

ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS. READING AND SPELLING. 

EXAMPLE I. problem: TO TEACH THE PRINCIPLE HOW TO GET IN- 
FORMATION FROM PRINTED MATTER. [RulcS for Stud3\] 



'TVThAT is popularly understood 
^jij to be reading is treated in 
the next example to this. " Giving 
information by reading aloud," is 
the end we do wish to reach by 
teaching the art of reading to chil- 
dren, but to do it successfully one 
must first cause the child to learn 
a rule for "getting information" 
from the text. 

I believe that a good guide for 
practice is never to ask a child to 
read for you any extract upon 
which his information is not full. 
Hence I begin by teaching him 
first how to get information, and 
then teach him how to tell it, using 
in the preliminary practice those 
sentences or extracts in which his 
information is full. 

Follow the directions below vary- 
ing the word matter to suit the 
grade of advancement of the class. 

In writing up the directions I 
have in. mind, a class of children 
advanced to the second reader, and 
who with a few exceptions were 
addicted to the " two-brothers-were- 
out-in-the field" habit, that sing- 
song" word-calling, that one hears 
so much of in visiting primar\' 
classes. 



1. Show an object to the class 
as a hat, and by action and ques- 
tion induce some one to name it. 
Write the name on the board and 
ask every one to do the same on 
his slate. 

2. Do something with the hat, 
and get some one to tell what was 
done. Some difficulty will be expe- 
rienced in this, but repeated trials 
will induce the child to adopt con- 
ventional forms of telling. Write 
the result on the board, and have 
it written on slates, thus : 

{a) "The teacher showed us his 
hat." 

3. Do other things or ask ques- 
tions and get members of the class 
in turn to extend the narrative 
until you have a number of .sen- 
tences, thus : 

{a) "The teacher showed us his 
hat to-da}'. {b) It is a large high- 
crowned hat. (r) He tried it on 
Henry Smith's head. (^)It reached 
down over Henry's ears, and all 
the children laughed. {c) The 
teacher then tried to put it on 
Willie Jones, but he dodged. (/) 
The teacher then put the hat away." 

In regular practice the next thing in order 
would be of course to have the children read 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS. READING AND SPELLING. 



23 



(aloud I the lesson, first troin the board, and 
afterwards from their slates, hut as that belongs 
to the work of the ne.xt example, it cannot of 
course bo considered as one of these directions. 

4. Repeat at different times the 
same routine, that is, take some 
object as a boy, a knife, a slate or 
a basket, and after the same plan 
used with the " hat," outline a les- 
son for reading aloud. 

5. After three or four repetitions 
write up a lesson basing it on one 
of the previous lessons, but chang- 
ing the idioms considerably, thus : 

" One day Mr. Smith brought 
his hat in. It was a high crowned 
hat and too big for a boy. When 
he tried it on Henry Smith it hid 
his ears and eyes. When he wanted 
to try WilHe Jones with it Willie 
held back. As the boys did not 
Hke that play the teacher put his 
hat awa3^" 

To this point it must be remembered that the 
children have been getting the information by 
using their senses. This direction (5) obliges 
them to rely on metnory, and on their knowl- 
edge of the words and idioms before them, for 
their information. It is the half way step to 
victory. Direction (,s) should never be attempted 
till the children read the improvised lessons 
naturally. 

6. Let the children copy the 
lesson from the board on their 
slates before reading it. 

7. Repeat with other lessons 
the work of directions (5) and (6), 
making tlie lessons to resemble 
less, and less the original types. 

8. Make up a lesson following 
directions (i) to (4), containing 
important words in the next lesson 
they are to encounter in their 
reader. The following are taken 
from a lesson in the second reader, 
and below is a specimen of what 
may be done with them; tempt, 
chased, swerve, began, mowers, 
thrown, spokes, straight, meadow, 
breath. 

" The teacher began a new game 
to-day. He tempted Johnnie with 



an apple, and had Johnnie chase 
him. They took pains to swerve 
just right in turning the corners. 
When Johnnie was out of breath 
he let him sit down. He then told 
us a story about mowers in a nieadoiv. 
And another about why the spokes 
in a wheel o\x<^\. to be made straight. 

It is not important that all the words be woven 
into a consistent narrative. It is sometimes im- 
practicable. The important point is to have the 
children get a sense impression if possible, for 
each new word t^ name before, they open the 
text in which they are to find it. 

g. If the idioms of a new les- 
son are too difficult, break them up 
by changes, thus: 

" When their arms were full of 
the new hay, they chased each 
other round the field till they were 
both at last out ol breath." 

They filled their arms with the 
new hay. And chased each other 
round and round. At last they 
were both out of breath. 

ID. When these directions have 
been faithfully followed, the chil- 
dren can be safely trusted to " get 
their lessons," and it will be found 
that their ideas and habits result- 
ing have been altered with refer- 
ence to what "getting a lesson" 
means. But whenever the old 
habits return, repeat such of the 
drill as may be necessary. 

II. When children can and do 
get information readily from most 
of the lessons assigned them, it 
often happens that they meet a les- 
son that refuses to yield its content. 
Investigation will show in such 
cases that the text is wanting in 
some one or more essential element 
necessary to make the concrete 
realization complete to a child. 
Such extracts as make no mention 
of the place or t'ime, or that do not 
describe in some way the persons 
mentioned are difficult, because the 
child has not learned yet to supply 
these. 



24 



PRINCIPLES IX TEACHING. 



Some children of bright imagi- 
nations do not meet this difficulty, 
but with the majority it is a draw- 
back. 

To prepare them for " getting 
the contents " of such a lesson as 
has been described, inquire of them 
and record in detail. 

(a) The time or times, as: "before 
noon," "after dinner," "the next 
day," etc., etc. 

(d) The places omi^ed, " In the 
parlor," on the road to town," "on 
the steps," " at the piano," " in the 
woods," etc., etc. 

(r) The descriptions of persons, 
as, "tall," "about six years old," 
"blue calico apron," etc., etc. 

(d ) Any other particulars (imag- 
ined) necessary to make a good 
skeleton to study b}'. This skele- 
ton can be usually supplied b}' 
reading over the lesson, pausing 
now and then as you read some- 
thing about Mary or John or mother, 
to "wonder" /lozo they looked, or 
were dressed, and where the}' were 
sitting or standing, and ivhen all 
this' happened and let the children 
decide. 

Example II. 

Problem : To teach the principle 
hoiv to give information by reading 
aloicd. [Rules for reading.] 

The directions given below assume that the 
child has information to give. The teacher must 
have dealt vv-ith him as suggested in E-xample i. 
and have given him an opportunity to "get" 
his lesson. But it nearly always happens that 
some have been inattentive or idle while thev 
ought to have been studying, and hence it is 
better to put into the reading lesson some work 
designed to perfect the knowledge they have 
acquired by conning the lesson over. The direc- 
tions begin at the point" where a child has not 
read at all. 

I. Do something and induce 
some child to tell about it. Some 
such sentence as this will result : 

{a) " The teacher came into the 
room." 



Have this copied on the slates, 
and read from the board and slates 
by members of the class. 

2. Vary the action producing 
such results as follow : 

{b) ." The teacher came in at the 
side door," 

{c) " He came in leading a little 
boy." 

{d) "The boy went to the win- 
dow and looked out." 

{e) " The teacher then took a 
seat and beckoned to the boy to 
come to him." 

(/) " He whispered to him, a-nd 
the bo>- went rapidly out. 

(. g) He then pointed to the door, 
and stamped on the floor three 
times. 

(//) While we were watching he 
opened the door, and there stood 
the boy with four hats on his head. 

3. Continue day after day until 
the children have formed the habit 
of taking a whole sentence as a 
unit of utterance. It must be 
borne in mind that to this point 
the information has come wholly 
through the senses. Care must be 
taken also to make these lessons 
serve the purpose of bringing into 
the vocabulary of the children all 
of the verbs, adjectives, adverbs, 
and prepositions in every day use. 

4. When a' vocabulary of 200 
or 300 words is learned, write up 
short lessons embracing such scenes 
as can be described by the words 
they know, thus : 

" John stood at the window. He 
beckoned to me to come and look 
out. I looked and saw a man com- 
ing rapidly to the front door. When 
he turned in at the gate we listened 
and the bell rang loudly." 

Let the children copy these care- 
fully, and afterwards read them 
from the board and from their 
slates. 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS. READING AND SPELLING. 



25 



5. Introduce new words occa- 
sionally, waiting for the children 
to discover them, and inquire "what 
they say." If a new word is regu- 
lar in its spelling, pronounce it 
slowly pointing to each letter as 
you give its phonetic sound. Or 
.spell it with them in the way you 
have usually practiced them. This 
caution applies only to words that 
you think are in their speaking 
vocabulary. Words that are irreg- 
ular in spelling, or that you know 
are strange to them should have 
their meanings enforced through 
sense impressions as was shown in 
a former chapter under " Word 
Teaching." 

6. When the children through 
this practice have .acquired the 
habit of reading not word by word, 
but sentence by sentence, when 
they also habitually make the 
attempt to help themselves out by 
spelling at new words, and listen- 
ing to see if they know them, and 
when they ask promptly for the 
meaning of new words, they are 
ready for lessons in a book. Select 
a text for them to try that contains 
not many words that are strange to 
them. A half dozen or so to a 
page of the text can be easily pre- 
pared for, by as hort lesson embrac- 
ing them, as illustrated in the last 
enample. 

These directions assume that the teacher has 
takeu the proper steps to change from script to 
print, viz; to print on the board lessons previ- 
ously read in script and have them read in the 
new form. This soon accustoms the children to 
printed words. 

7. Before having the first lesson 
read from the books, question it 
out sentence by sentence, thus : 

Where did Johnnie Brown go 
one day? Jolm Rronni wait to see 
his grandmotlnr one day. Where 
did she live ? His grandmother 
lived in a small house about a mile 
Jrom his home. W'hat was there 



near his grandmother's ? There was 
a deep pond not fa. from her cottage. 
The answers italicised above 
are the text of the child. His 
reading in response to the teacher's 
questions is a veritable telling of 
the story. When he reads it inde- 
pendently a little later it is still 
telling. 

8. Continue to question out the 
sense of each lesson before reading 
it, until the children show by their 
habits of reading, that they have 
a.ssimilated the idea that reading is 
telling. 

9. If a lesson presents any unu- 
sual difficulty, prepare the children 
for it by reading it over for them 
3'ourself, pausing at the difficult 
passages, and "wondering" about 
them. 

10. Long lessons (3 or 4 pages 
of text) would be better not di- 
vided, as is the usual practice of 
teachers. In lieu of that course, 
read the lesson j^ourself, the chil- 
dren following with books open. 
After reading have books closed, 
and by questioning get from the 
children a short abstract of the 
lesson. As the^ sentences of the 
abstract are derived, write them on 
the board and have the children 
write them on their .slates. Have 
this read from the board and from 
the slates. After this the children 
will be better able to " get " the 
lesson. 

Example III. 

Problem : To teach the working 
principle by "ivhich a pupil ivill be 
enabled to spell correctly. 

There are two habits character- 
istic of every good speller. One 
is that of looking closely at the 
sequence of the letters in a new 
word, the other is that of making a 
mental picture of every word be- 
fore spelling it. To establish these 



26 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



habits in a child is to give him a 
rule for spelling any and all words 
that lie may need to use. Obedi- 
ence to these habits is the working 
principle by which he spells his 
words. 

Children trained to read after the 
method outlined in this chapter, 
will as a rule need no special spel- 
ling lessons, since the amount of 
word copying they have done, will 
usually be enough to have caused 
in them the formation of the spel- 
ling habit. 

But many children doneedspecial 
lessons, and frequent tests in order 
to issure success with them. Ex- 
ample I, under " Word Teaching " 
is a kind of spelling le.sson. .Such 
lessons as are there recommended, 
are advised to fix the proper habit 
for learning the meaning of new 
words, and it is recommended for 
all. But its value as a spelling 
lesson is only incidental, since the 
exercise leads the child to compare 
meaningsmore than forms. 

Much time is wasted in my opin- 
ion by teachers everywhere in need- 
less spelling lessons. I have never 
given exceeding fifteen minutes a 
day to it when I taught a class, 
and have succeeded. I was led to 
this practice by recollecting how 
an old gentleman whose school I 
attended one term used to do. 

He had " kept school "' as it was 
called for forty years in one place. 
He had many eccentricities as a 
teacher, the most remarkable of 
which was his method in spelling. 

We used the old "Blue- Back" 
as a matter of course, and every 
boy had to spell through it before 
he was allowed to take a reader. 
This was all oral and "on the book" 
as we called it. Those who were 
in reading classes — among whom I 
was numbered — were required to 
spell "off the book," the last thing 



before noon each day. Our lesson 
was the list of words of irregular 
spelling and pronunciation (about 
4 pages in the back of the book.) 
It took about three days to finish 
the list, and then we spelled it 
again. Easy was'nt it? It had 
gone on 40 years before I joined 
the school, and continued two or 
three years longer — the old man 
died in the harness soon after — and 
the patrons were satisfied. And 
strange to say it made good spellers. 

It required close observ^ation to 
locate the letters in such combina- 
tions as phthisic, hunt boy and bdel- 
lium, and great powers of imagina- 
tion to picture one of them when 
pronounced, but we succeeded 
through many, repetitions, and like 
the German student whose nuisic 
master kept him practicing exer- 
cises till he could pla}^ at sight all 
music, so we in the end found our- 
selves able to fix the form of a new 
word at a glance. At least that 
was my experience. 

Reflecting on this experience, 
and on the strange (?) fact that I 
had learned to spell at college 
thousands of Latin, and French, 
and German words without ever 
having taken a spelling lesson in 
either language, led me to conclude 
early in my career as a teacher, 
that quality in les.sons and not 
quantity is what is needed to make 
good spellers. 

Below follow directions for teach- 
ing the principle formulated above. 
It may be that a better selection of 
material for lessons may be made. 
I have followed the plan of taking 
words kindred in meaning for a 
lesson, because thereby the intel- 
lect of the learner is afforded full 
exercise." 

I. Induce a pupil — by a whis- 
pered consultation or in some other 
convenient way — ^to pass before the 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS READINCx AND SPELLING. 



27 



class asking them to give attention 
to what he does. When this is 
perceived and fully apprehended 
give the name -walking to the ac- 
tion ; write it upon the board and 
have it copied by the class on their 
slates or pads. 

2. Induce another to imitate the 
first one with the difference that he 
shall take long steps. Have the 
class observe the action, and com- 
pare it with the ^walking. If they 
have no name for that kind of 
walking, call it 'striding and place 
it on the board along with walking, 
and have it copied on the slates or 
pads. 

3. Induce others to vary the 
generic action in various ways. Com- 
pare each by its differences from 
the actions previously illustrated. 

B2 sure to have the comparing 
dons before the- name of the new 
action is given. ""Marchiiig, ^skip- 
ping, '^crawlitig, ''' stumbling , ''limping, 
^blunder in ^, ^zvandering, ^"approach- 
ing, ^^retiring, ^'passing, ^''running, 
^* happing, etc., may be added in a 
little while to the group on the 
board. The number it is advisable 
to take depends of course upon the 
advancement of the class and other 
circumstances. Three or four at 
least are necessary to give free 
exercise to the comparing powers 
of the children. Not more than 
fifteen minutes ought to be con- 
sumed in developing the group as 
outlined. 

If time permits continue at once, 
but if not, then at some future time, 
by drawing out short statements 
from the children by appropriate 
questions, as follows : 

1. I limped when I cut my foot 
with a piece of glass. 

2. Henry stumbled because he 
ran too fast. 

3. A boy hops on one foot but a 
bird hops on both feet. 



4. Mary approached with the 
chalk and retired to her seat, etc., 
etc. 

Write these sentences on the 
board and have them simultane- 
ously copied on slates or pads. 

In this exercise I have suggested 
enough work for about thirty min- 
utes. "But," says one, "is that 
all ? Are we not to have a drill on 
the new words in order to secure 
their retention?" I answer em- 
phatically in the negative. It is 
just that course that makes listless 
and poor spellers out of many 
school children. With the mate- 
rial above I would have no further 
work. I would keep no list for 
Frida}' afternoon's spelling match 
or for any purpose except to test 
the children occasionally. But I 
would induce my children to pre- 
serve their work for reference if 
possible, in order to develop the 
necessity for using the dictionary 
or other authority when in doubt. 

My drill consists of doing day 
after day the same thing as nearly 
as possible with other word mate- 
rial. For instance: ^Up, "^down, 
''along, ^over, ''underneath ; ^Slotvly, 
'^hurriedly, ^deliberately, * cautiously ; 
^Beautiful, '^pretty, ^nice, ^exquisite, 
""ugly, '^homely ; and ^Hard, '^soft, 
^firm, ''adamantine, "imishy, etc., are 
.specimens of groups which can be 
easily treated after the manner of 
the outlined exercise above. Now 
let us see what is done by this 
method. First the pupil is led to 
spell once correctly a great many 
words. These words all name 
something to him at the time he 
spells them. His teacher invents a 
use for each word by a question, 
and he spells it again. He thinks 
of other uses for it and spells it 
mentally over and over. This goes 
on with him week after week. In 
the meantime his teacher has tes- 



PRINCIPLES IN tp:aching. 



ted him by asking him occasionally 
to spell some word that he had 
three or four weeks before, and 
somebody else has had to help him 
spell it. He has seen numbers of 
his comrades caught and mortified 
in the same way. He has seen 
others invariably succeed when 
tested. He watches them (the 
ready spellers) and assimilates 
through comparing their ways with 
his own, the correct principle of 
how to be able to spell words when 
it is necessary. If he should write 
the principle out it would be some- 
what like this : " Why these words 
the teacher makes us copy every- 
day keep coming up. I find I 
want to use them very often. I 
must notice better how they are 
written so I won't have to look in 
my dictionary so often, and so I 
won't be mortified by not knowing 
how to spell one when I am asked to 
do so by my teacher or any one else." 
To get your children in the frame 
of mind indicated by this mono- 
logue should be the end and aim 



of your work with them in teaching 
spelling. If I were the Czar of 
Russia, I would banish to Siberia 
every man who would prescribe 
lists of words for the teachers in 
ni}- dominion to torture the chil- 
dren with. Moreover I would pre- 
scribe that the banished should be 
punished by being made to learn 
and recite twenty new words each 
day from a .strange language, and 
to go ivithoui their dinner till they 
recite them correctly, as many chil- 
dren in our land are forced to do 
every day. 

This exercise illustrates my ideal 
of how to teach spelling. I grant 
that it is not the conventional les- 
son at all, but years of experience 
has proven that it serves the pur- 
pose of making good spellers of 
children in the end, and at the same 
time assists the reading, the geog- 
raphy, and other lessons wonder- 
fully. Moreover, they are inter- 
ested and happy in their work 
which counts much in developing 
their characters. 



CHAPTER VI. 



ILLUSTR.VTIVE I.ESSON.S. LANGU.VGE. 



-^UTOMATIC writing is a 
^-4^Xkj necessity in order that a 
child's intellect may be free to 
e.xercise itself upon the material 
placed before it by the teacher, in 
the language lessons. 

Early in a child's school life, 
then he ought to be led to a.ssimi- 
late those rules or principles for 
writing, which will enable him to 
transcribe what he knows " with 
neatness, legibility and despatch." 

0:i page 15 I gave in monologue 
form the principal " I must's," that 
a child should practice automati- 
cally in order to write well. 

Below follows an illustration of 



how one of these principles may 
be taught. In the same manner 
all of them shoiild be treated. The 
method of proceeding is exceed- 
ingly simple, viz : Induce the 
child to write in pursuance of some 
other motive than that of merely 
making a letter or word, and while 
he writes, or* before, lead him to 
observe how you form the letters 
yourself. He will observe, compare, 
and assimilate the rule you wish 
him to learn. 

" Penholding," " position, " and 
" movement," will teach themselves 
by unconscious comparisons if let 
alone. 



II<LUSTRATIVE LESSONS. LANGUAGE. 



29 



I have seen a teacher break a 
class from using the finger move- 
ment, by the simple device of mak- 
ing them stand up while they write 
on slates: she gave no lecture to 
prove why the arm movement was 
better than the other, but merely 
put them in a position in which 
they would find it laborious to use 
the finger movement. 

Much writing by tiring the mus- 
cles that hold the penholder firmly, 
is the best monitor po-ssible to ad- 
vise the proper holding of it. 

To sit erect in writing becomes a 
habit, when the cramped positions 
which children assume at first, 
have had a chance to " hurt " them 
enough. 

Example I. 

Problem: To teach hoiv to begin 
and end words and properly space 
script ivriting. 

Let the teacher make a group of 
experiences as below, using sen- 
tences questioned out of the chil- 
dren : 



y' 



J. 



^ei(/a 



'r 



■IMfJ 



///alitrr/ n/ /ue 



At. 



{ii^e ffuif/// f/' // /•<////- 



r^ 



a^f 



^. 



t/ /o 



'^car/(i f<// €/ 



y. 



Now it must be remembered that 
children are naturally conservatives 
and that what others whom they 
love do, is a law for them. Follow, 
therefore, this line of questioning 
directly to the principle you wish 
them to observe : Where did I 
(the teacher) commence the word 
^^ wentV Where did I end it? 
Where did I commence the word 
"toV Where did I end it? etc., 



etc. Where did I commence all 
my words beginning with small 
letters ? Where did I end the same 
words ? What rule did I seem to 
follow? What rule ought you to 
follow? 

If children are thus led to ob- 
serve, compare and deduce from 
examples originated out of their 
experiences — not taken from a copy 
book or reader — they will undoubt- 
edly retain the principle and apply 
it. 

Example II. 

Problem : To teach the la7io of 
identity in lang^iage. 

If you should point to a horse 
and ask a child what it is, if he 
knows, he would tell you its name. 
Then, if you should ask him why 
he calls it horse, he would answer 
you in terms equivalent to saying, 
"because it is like other things 
that I have heard called horse. ^' 

In giving this answer the child 
demonstrates that the law of iden- 
tity is a working principle with 
him. If you should talk to him 
about your horse that he has not 
seen, tell him that it had cast a 
shoe, that it is a trotting horse, or 
that it is blind in one eye, he has 
no difficulty in supplying to his un- 
derstanding many things that you 
omit in telling, because he is auto- 
matically holding, as a guide to his 
thinking, the law ; "Things identi- 
cal as wholes, are identical in their 
parts." 

By this law he sees one of four 
feet without a shoe, sees the move- 
ment trotting, as distinguished from 
other gaits, and sees one of t7vo eyes 
blind. His imagination supplies a 
road, a vehicle, (perhaps three shoes 
nailed on, ears, legs, and many 
other things belonging to his con- 
cept horse. 

Now the same law that assists 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



him in tinder standing you, also 
assists him in telling, but he does 
not know it, because he does not 
know that scntoiccs are identical 
objects just as horses are, and that 
they have essential parts, viz: sub- 
ject, predicate, adjuncts, etc., per- 
forming functions similar to legs, 
feet, ears, eyes, etc., in a horse. 

When his intellect assimilates 
this knowledge he applies it auto- 
matically in talking, and writing, 
that is, he makes sentences of what 
he sees or remembers or perceives 
through intellectual action, and utters 
them or writes them for another to 
under stand. 

A correct method in language 
teaching then, in my opinion, leads 
the child through observations, and 
couAparisons that you cause him to 
make, to appropriation of the knowl- 
edge formulated above as a work- 
ing principle. > 

The following directions modi- 
fied to suit the degree of advance- 
ment of a class, supplemented b}- 
questions, will suffice I think to 
give the knowledge desired. 

I. Give commands in writing, 
using words only that are in the 
vocabulary of the children. Have 
individuals obey the commands in 
silence, the others observing (be 
sure of the observing) that the 
action is in answer to the written 
command. Have the children copy 
the whole work on their slates. 

{a) Bring me a drink of water, 
Mary. 

{b) John, write your name for 
me. 

(c) Come, Henry, and sit in this 
chair. 

{d) Children, touch your desks 
with your pencils. 

{e) Put coal in the stove, and 
lower one window sash about four 
inches. 

kf) Write these words, " open 



sesame," on your slates. 

2. Induce the children to write 
similar commands on the board, 
for you and others to obey by ac- 
tion. If the children called on can 
originate commands, and put com- 
mas, periods, capitals, etc., in the 
right places, then 3^our work with 
direction i, has caused them to 
perceive that (a.) (Jb,) {c,) (d,) etc., 
are identical objects, and that they 
have essential parts. If they do 
not do this, correct their work by 
erasing and suppl3ang until they 
do copy after the models. It is 
necessary in most cases to oblige 
comparison by direct questioning 
in order to reach all children in 
the cla.ss. 

3. Question out statements ba.sed 
on the actions they have observed 
in directions (i) and (2), thus: 
What did Mary do? How did John 
obey my command? etc., etc. As 
satisfactory oral answers are given, 
write the statements on the board, 
and have them copied on slates or 
pads : 

(a) Mary brought the teacher a 
drink. 

(b) John wrote his name on the 
board. 

(c) Henry went and sat on the 
chair. 

(d) We touched our desks with 
our pencils. 

(e) Ernest put some coal in the 
.stove, and lowered the sash of the 
north window about six inches, 
that was more than the teacher 
told him. 

( / ) We wrote, " open sesame," 
on our slates. 

4. Induce children to make 
statements about actions that are 
going on around them, and within 
view on the outside. Do this by 
questions, thus : What is this fly 
doing? Which way is the wind 
blowing? etc., etc. Write results 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS. LANGUAGE. 



31 



on board and slates, thus : 

(a) The fly is sitting on the 
teacher's hand. 

(6) The wind is coining in at the 
west window. 

(t) The leaves are falling very 
fast. 

(d) John is saying, " Henry took 
my slate." 

(e) The fire is dying out. 

5. Ask individuals to reproduce 
what you said before {a,) {b,) (c,) 
etc., in (3) and (4) were written. 
As the questions are reproduced 
orally, write them on the board 
and have them copied on pads or 
slates : 

(a) What is the fly doing? 

(d) From which way is the wind 
blowing ? 

(<:) What can you say about the 
leaves ? 

{d) What is John saying to 
Henry ? 

(e) How is the fire getting along? 

6. Write a group of questions 
and have the children write appro- 
priate answers. If they do this 
readily, copying the models you 
have given in form, they have 
observed properly. If they fail, 
correct their work, without telling 
why, until they begin to observe 
for themselves. It will hardly be 
possible however to get all in a 
class to form rules for writing sen- 
tences without spurring their intel- 
lects to action by questions. The 
method of doing this is illustrated 
in the next example (3). 

7. Write a series of statements, 
and require the children to frame 
questions that " would, make any- 
body say" them in answer, thus : 

" A tall tree stands near the 
school-gate." The question that 
"would make anybody say this" 
is: "What kind of a tree stands 
near the school-gate? " 



The object of this direction is to get children 
to observe the identity of question and answer. 
If some one is sent for to answer the question, 
it will appear that he can give the answer in 
fall except the word " tall." Now he can only 
get this by looking at the tree a.v r<)« look at it, 
that is, with your motive. 

8. Continue till the opportunity 
is given to every child to notice the 
identity between question and an- 
swer. Follow the same directions 
in getting the children to adopt 
proper forms, as have been hereto- 
fore given under (2) and (6). 

As the work proceeds the teacher will perceive 
that the children are beginningto realize that 
sentences are real objects, he will perceive also 
that they distinguish between the functions of 
the several tj-pes. At this stage their minds have 
begun to classify and names are needed. Adopt 
any cl:issification you prefer. With a class I use 
the terms, question, command, and answer ox state- 
ment to name the types developed. I use the 
term sentence for the generic idea. 

So far I have outlined the work 
of teaching this principle as it may 
be made available for primary clas- 
ses. Following these directions 
one can cause the children to anal- 
ize the sentence and perceive its 
parts only imperfectly. But they 
do lead to a concept of it as a whole 
and of its three general functions. 
They also learn to recognize its 
written form, and its corresponding 
spoken form. 

The " identity of sentences in all 
their parts," will not be fully real- 
ized till children have been in school 
three or four years, and the attempt 
should not be made to force the 
knowledge upon them by requiring 
them to repeat definitions and point 
out parts of speech, etc. 

I would suggest the following 
plan for securing the complete 
assimilation. 

9. Induce every child to think 
of some object that can "stand." 
Caution each one to select some 
real object iioza standing somewhere 
that we might go and look at. 
Write the word "stands" on the 



32 



PRINCIPLES IX TEACHING. 



board, and have each to write it 
on his slate or pad. Next make a 
dash before the word, thus : 

(a) _l_stands. 

Require each pupil in copying to 
write the name of his object where 
you have placed the dash. Num- 
ber your line (a) and ask each to 
number his the same wa}', Add 
another dash producing: 

(d) J Lstands. 

Require each pupil to write an 
additional word telling " what kind 
of" for the dash, In like manner 
expand by requiring additions, as 
follows : 

{c) J : Lstands, (Word telling 

"which." 

(d) JL JL L_stands, _L (Word or 
more than one telling ' ' how it 
stands." 

(e) JL — _^stands J_ JL (Word 
or words telling "where." 

The children will have on their 
slates such identical expressions. 
as: 

{e) An old man stands quietly 
on the opposite corner. 

(^'') A large tree stands in full 
leaf on the common. 

(^") etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., etc. 

ID. Call on the children now to 
discover, ivithoiit looking at each 
others slates, and to name the points 
of resemblance among their sen- 
tences. 

It will be possible to get them to 
name all the points covered by 
your directions in preparing them, 
such as : 

1. Each tells of something 
that stands, 

2. Each describes (tells what 
kind of) an object it is. 

3. Each tells " which " object 
of its kind is meant. 

4. Each tells "how" it stands. 

5. Each tells " where " it 
stands. 

IT. After they succeed in dis- 



covering these resemblances, re- 
quire them to write a sentence that 
will include in its meaning every 
sentence on the slates. By calling 
attention to j-our skeleton sentence 
on the board, they can succeed, 
thus : 

{e) 1_ J_ _Lstands _L JL 

(^') A certain described something 

(4) (5) 

stands somehow somezvhere. 

12. The function of modifiers 
can be shown by (a), {b), (c), (d) 
and (e) to be determining the ex- 
tent of meaning in each group. It 
can thus be made plain that 
"stands" in taking tense form is 
in fact, like amat in Eatin, a com- 
plete expression having all essen- 
tial modifiers in generic significa- 
tion. It means in full : 

(a) Somethhig somewhere somehow 
statids. 

This comparison makes clear 
that {b), (c), {d) and (^) respectively 
each represents an idea less com- 
prehensive than the preceding, 
thus showing that the function of 
modifiers is to restrict (make spe- 
cific) the signification of the germ 
word. 

13. Repetitions of this work 
with other generic sentences, and 
modifiers is necessar}- to make chil- 
dren thoroughl}' understand that 
their sentences are but objects, and 
that they have esssential parts with 
definite functions. 

If the work is done well it will 
constitute a thorough preparation 
for the study of grammar. 

Example III. 

Problem : To teach a pupil the 
principle of zoriting plain, declara- 
tive sentences. 

To do this intelligently, that is, 
after a principle, the pupil must be 
able to decide instantly as to what 
writings come under his principle. 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS. LANGUAGE. 



33 



The teacher must therefore give 
him the personal experience that 
will enable him to make his deci- 
sion promptly. A number of plain 
examples should be brought out 
by questions to the class as follows : 
What is lying on the desk? Where 
do you live? Where did j-ou go 
yesterday? Whose book do I hbld? 
etc., etc., and be plainly written b}^ 
the teacher on the board, and 
copied b}^ the children on their 
pads or slates, thus : 

1. A slate is lying cni the desk. 

2. John lives on Wabiiit Street. 

3. Henry zvent to New Albany 
yesterday. 

4. The teacher has Marys book. 
These constitute the experiences 

for the pupils from which the 
teacher may cause them to assimi- 
late the principle by leading them 
to make the proper observations, 
comparisons, and generalizations. 
Question first as to points of resem- 
blance and identity, thus: How 
did I begin No. i, No. 2, No. 3, 
etc.? What mark did I place at 
the end of each sentence? How 
came the first sentence to be writ- 
ten? the second? the third? etc. 

At this point it would be well to 
appeal to some other motive in the 
children and get other dissimilar 
sentences, adding them to the 
group, thus : 

5. Bring me a drink of water. 

6. Where did you get that hat? 

7. Shut the door. 

8. How old are you ? 

By comparing these with i, 2, 3, 
4, and 5, and with each other, the 
various motives that originated 
them can be brought to the percep- 
tion of the children. A few ques- 
tions upon the original group de- 
signed to call attention to the 
resemblance, " written or spoken 
to answer a question," will cause 
the principle to take form in their 



minds as follows: "When I w^^ite 
anything which is in answer to a 
question, I must begin it with a 
capital and end it with a period." 

Bear in mind that a single group 
of sentences will not assure the 
fixing of this principle with every 
member of a class. Frequent repe- 
titions with other groups will be 
necessary in every case to reach 
all. There is great value in teach- 
ing the details of punctuation in 
just the way I have attempted to 
outline, inasmuch as it exercises 
all the thinking powers of the 
mind. In no other way can results 
be achieved that will compare satis- 
factorily with this, in time used, in 
confidence imparted, and in atten- 
tion and eagerness on the part of 
the children. 

It is not thought necessary to 
illustrate further, how to secure 
automatic use of punctuation 
marks. If you try this for a week* 
or two, and find that it does suc- 
ceed in making the use of the 
period automatic, you can then 
easily construct groups through 
which to teach the various uses of 
the comma, and other marks. 
Example IV. 

Problem: To teach the principle 
of writing a story from a picture. 

I. Select a picture and spend a 
few minutes in getting the class to 
examine it. If they are backward 
in seeing all that is of interest in 
the picture, lead them to discover 
what y 021 see by appropriate ques- 
tions. It is supposed in this direc- 
tion that the teacher is a person of 
taste and judgment, and imagina- 
tion enough to construct a readable 
story. It is the teacher's story 
that is to be written. Considerable 
tact is necessarj^ to avoid using 
your own language. At first most 
teachers find it necessary to help 
with a .sentence now and then. 



34 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



2. After the preparaton- talk 
agree upon ?iamcs for the persons, 
animals, etc., in the picture. Fix 
upon the time and place and motives 
of the actors (if these are apparent 
in the picture). Make these selec- 
tions by a majority vote after hear- 
ing arguments pro and con. 

3. Proceed to question out of 
the children the story you have in 
mind. As the sentences are 
evolved, write them upon the board 
and have them copied by the chil- 
dren on slates or pads. 

4. L,ast of all select an appro- 
priate title. After the children 
learn the principle and can work 
independently, this may be done 
before the story is written, but it is 
better while the principle is being 
developsd with them to originate 
it after, as it gives freer range to 
the imagination. 

5. Follow this plan day after 
day, and with small children week 
after week, and it will without fail 
result in giving them the power of 
writing a creditable stor}'. They 
will spell their words and punc- 
tuate their sentences as well as 
their teacher can, no worse, no 
better. 

I intend in a subsequent chap- 
ter to trace the effects upon intellect 
of this method of dealing with 
children learning a principle, but 
can not refrain from a brief refer- 
ence to it here as this exercise 
illustrates so clearly the process of 
providing an experience through 
which only a principle can be 
learned. 

The first and all subsequent 
stories upon the pictures used in 
the training process, it will be 
noticed exist in inchoate form in 
the teacher's mind before they are 
evolved. If the teacher uses tact, 
each story produced becomes an 
original experience to each pupil — 



his taste, and judgment, and imagi- 
nation have been exercised and 
become in part the property of the 
child. Repetitions (other stories 
produced) while further exercising 
lais pupils" perceptive powers, also 
bring into use their comparing 
powers. Day by day the pupil sees 
the teacher use punctuation marks 
and capital letters in certain cases. 
Week after week he witnesses 
changes made in the langauge 
offered by his comrades and him- 
self Almost every day he sees the j 
teacher write some word different \ 
from the way he would have done 
if he had been the teacher. Un- 
consciou.sly at first but consciously 
after awhile he notices the resem- 
blances of the cases where commas 
and capitals, etc., are used. He . 
observes the uniformity of the I 
cases in which the language is 
corrected by the teacher. He finds 
after awhile that he can copy the 
stories without looking at them. 
He has assimilated a complete 
working principle foi the work. 
He would blunder sadly if required 
to tell the rules for commas, tenses, 
capitals, etc., that he applies but 
he does apply them all the same. 

Example V. 

Problem : To teach the principle 
for describing an object. 

I put this principle into language 
as I think it will enable my readers 
better to comprehend the illustra- 
tion. It is as follows: A perfect 
description distinguishes the object 
described and each of its classes frojn 
all others. 

Following is printed a description 
drawn out from a class of children 
ten years old. I shall illustrate the 
method by telling first how this 
was produced, and further how the 
class has been conducted through 
several months of similar work. 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS. LANGUAGE. 



35 



DESCRIPTION OF A HAT. 

The hat is made of straw. It is 
black and has a high crown. The 
crown is flat on top. The hat has 
black lining. It is trimmed in 
brown ribbon, and it has a large 
round brim. The brim is pinched 
out in some places. The lining is 
torn. The hat is made of two 
kinds of straw, fine and coarse. 
It ha*i a velvet fold on the edge. 
It has two hat pins, a long and a 
short one. The ribbon is around 
the crown. It has no rubber. 

The sentences of this descrip- 
tion were suggested by individuals 
in the class. When two or more 
were offered, a selection was made 
by the teacher generally, but some- 
times by a majority vote when the 
offers afforded a chance for discus- 
sion. 

The hats belonging to all the 
children were brought in and 
placed before the class. They 
were then divided into the classes 
straw and not strazu by the teacher, 
the children observing what she 
was doing. The teacher then sel- 
ected one from the class straiv hats, 
and held it up, asking, " What 
kind of a hat is this? " The first 
descriptive sentence : The hat is 
made of straw, was selected from a 
number of answers ofi'ered, and 
written by all. 

The teacher then put aside the 
hats, )iot straiv, and placed with the 
one selected all the straw hats that 
resembled it in many particulars. 
Those that were strikingly differ- 
ent were put in other classes ac- 
cording to their resemblances. 
This was done in silence, the chil- 
dren observing closely the actions 
of the teacher. When the classifi- 
cation was finished, the teacher 
held up the same hat as before and 
asked, ' What kind of a hat is it 
now?" The descriptive words 



■'high-crowned" and " black" were 
both inserted in the sentence as an 
after-suggestion of some one. The 
teacher had selected black to classify 
by, but it so happened that high- 
crowned was also a common attri- 
bute to the class and served like- 
wise to separate it from the other 
classes. After this sentence was 
written a new arrangement was 
made and the same question asked 
for the next sentence. So the ex- 
ercise proceeded to the end. When 
the last sentence, It has no rubber, 
was reached, there were yet four or 
five hats left. 

There were many offers made of 
sentences, but all of them were 
faulty except the one selected inas- 
much as they contained terms that 
might apply to others in the group. 
This exercise has been practiced 
weekl}^ by the class. Spools, slates, 
books, lunch-bags, pieces of paper, 
marbles, etc,, etc., have been used 
from time to time in class. After 
each description- was written, an- 
other teacher or the principal, or a 
committee from another room was 
sent for to read the description and 
identify the object. If every sen- 
tence had to be read and every 
object handled before this identifi- 
cation was made, it was counted 
extra meritorious. At intervals 
the children were tested by inde- 
pendent exercises in describing : 
A friend, a schoolmate, a house, a 
man, a woman, a boy, an animal, 
etc., etc., with the condition that 
the examiner should also be ac- 
quainted with the object or person 
described. 

Many repetitions are necessary 
to enable the children to " catch 
on" to this principle, but the re- 
sults will reward any teacher who 
undertakes it. 

ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS. 

The outline given above is based 



36 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



on a study of objects. It is the 
beginning point of description, but 
this art extends much farther. A 
scene in nature, a process in manu- 
facture, an account of a fire or of a 
battle, and compositions of like 
character belong to description. 
Gen. Wallace's " Chariot Race," 
and Rider Haggard's battle scenes 
are modern examples of descriptive 
writing well worthy of study by a 
teacher who wishes to outline a 
course of training, that will edu- 
cate a class in the art of word 
painting. Below is given an out- 
line of how I think the work ought 
to be commenced. 

(A.) Decide upon a series of 
actions to be performed, which are 
to be described by the class. The 
test of accuracy should be for some 
one not present at the time to per- 
form the actions after reading the 
description. 

[A case is taken from practice 
for illustration.] 

1. The teacher performed the 
action described, and secured from 
the children the following : 

(a) " The teacher drew a circle 
on the board." 

2. Continuing with the actions 
agreed upon, the teacher recorded 
the sentences as they were evolved. 

(d) " She then drew a cross 
within the circle. (c) Next she 
drew short lines within the angles 
of the cross, (d) L,astly she bi- 
sected the lines last drawn, and 
placed dots at the ends of the short 
bisecting lines." The figure they 
had drawn was this: 




3. The drawing was erased from 
one slate, and the owner was sent 
with the description to another 
room. He was charged to request 
the other teacher to produce the 
drawing from the description. After 
a short interval he returned with 
the following design : 




4. This was placed on the board 
near the other, and a comparison 
was made of the two. All agreed 
after a short discussion, that the 
other teacher had not violated in- 
structions. 

5. Correcting the description 
then beg'an, and ended with the 
following amended description. 

{a) " The teacher drew a circle 
on the board, which was six inches 
in diameter. She then drew one 
horizontal and one vertical line, 
each passing through the center, 
and terminating near the circum- 
ference. Next she drew a single 
line bisecting each angle of the 
cross, but not reaching to the cen- 
ter or circumference. Lastly she 
bisected these lines, and placed 
dots at the ends of the short bisect- 
ing line." 

6. This description was then 
sent to the other teacher. The 
figure she returned was so near like 
the original one that no further 
amendments were necessary. 

(B) These directions embrace a 
single lesson in description. Many 
repetitions are necessary before the 
pupils will be able to do creditable 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS. LANGUAGE. 37 

work. No lesson ought to be no superfluous words in it. Every 
repeated, but a new process or nar- stanza almost is a lively picture, 
rative must be used at each sue- Our school readers have many 
ceeding lesson. fine examples of description. Any 

(C) Alternating with the lessons one who tries it will be pleased to 
advised under (A) and (B) above, find that he can easily get children 
selections of good descriptions to appreciate the^e extracts, 
ought to be read by the class, and The following poem by Bret 
examined critically by them under Harte, is a fine specimen of the 
the guidance of the teacher. Long- kind of extract suitable for this 
fellow's "Village Blacksmith," has work: 

1. Above the pines the moon was slowly drifting. 

The river sang below ; 
The dim Sierras, far beyond, uplifting 
Their minarets of snow. 

2. The waving camp-fire, with rude humor, painted 

The ruddy tints of health 
On haggard face and form that dropped and fainted 
In the fierce race for wealth ; 

3. Till one arose and from his pack's scant treasure 

A hoarded volume drew. 
And cards were dropped from hands of listless leisure 
To hear the tale anew. 

4. And then, while round them shadows gathered faster, 

And as the fire-light fell. 
He read aloud the book wherein the Master 
Had writ of " Little Nell." 

5. Perhaps 't was boyish fancy— for the reader 

Was youngest of them ail- 
But as he read from clustering pine and cedar 
A silence seemed to fall. 

6. The fir-trees, gathering closer in the shadows, 

Listened in every spray, 
While the whole camp with Nell on English meadows 
Wandered and lost their way. 

7. And so in mountain solitudes — o'ertaken 

As b}' some spell divine — 
Their cares dropped from them like the needles shaken 
From out the gusty pine. 

8. Lost is that camp, and wasted all its fire ; 

And he who wrought that spell ? 
Ah ! towering pine and stately Kentish spire, 
Ye have one tale to tell ! 

9. Lost is that camp ! but let its fragrant storv 

Blend with the breath that thrills 
With hop-vines' incense all the pensive glory 
That fills the Kentish hills. 

ID. And on that grave where English oak and holly 
And laurel wreaths entwine. 
Deem it not all a too presumptuous folly, 

This spray of western pine 1 Bret Harte. 



38 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



Example VI. 
Problem : To teach the principle 
of making an abstract or synopsis of 
a story. 

1. Read the story to the class. 

2. After the reading call for the 
names of the characters (actors) in 
the story. 

3. Make a list of these a.s they 
are given by individuals. 

4. Make a list also of the acts 
performed by each of the char- 
acters. 

5. And a list of the times men- 
tioned in the story. 

6. Also make a li.st of the places 
mentioned. 

7. As these items of actions, 
times, places, etc., etc., are given 
pause to ask " rvhy '" each is sug- 
gested. 

8. Compare the actions to de- 
termine the order, the place, and 
the time of each. The children 
are now ready to write the stor}'. 

If the story selected is wanting in any of the 
details noted above, supply them by assuming 
reasonable times, places, etc., for the happenings. 
These assumptions must be drawn out from the 
children not dictated by the teacher. As a rule, 
I think such selections, as leave many of the 
essentials to be supplied by the imagination of 
the learner, will be found to be most improving. 

Below is a lesson taken from 
McGuffey 's Alternate Third Reader, 
which is especially fine for this 
series of lessons. It will be no- 
ticed that the characters are not 
named specifically, or described par- 
ticularly. The time is left ovtt, 
and the place barely suggested. 

THE BEAUTIFUL HAND. 

There was a dispute among three 
ladies as to which had the mo.st 
beautiful hands. 



One of them sat by a stream and 
washed her hands in the water ; 
another picked strawberries until 
the ends of her fingers were of a 
pink color ; and another gathered 
violets until her hands were fra- 
grant with their perfume. 

An old woman passing by asked, 
"Who will give me a gift?" All 
three shook their heads; but an- 
other who sat near, unwashed by 
the stream, unstained by fruit, un- 
adorned with flowers, gave her a 
gift. 

The poor woman then asked 
them what they were disputing 
about. They told her, and held up 
their hands. 

" Beautiful indeed," said she, 
when she saw them ; " but the hand 
that gives to the poor is more beau- 
tiful than one that is washed in the 
clear stream, stained by fruit, or 
garlanded with fragrant flowers." 

9. Let each child select a char- 
acter and tell the story as if it were 
written by the personage he selects. 
Thus, in the lesson above one 
might tell it giving the impressions 
of the beggar woman, another giv- 
ing the probable version of the 
woman who gave the gift, while 
others might record the story as 
told by one or another of the ladies 
who were disputing. 

10. Repeatthe exercise using a dif- 
ferent selection each time, until the 
children can write a consistent 
account in their own language of 
anything they read. Poems of a 
certain character afford good mate- 
rial for lessons. The following 
taken from Butler's Fifth Reader 
is particularly fine for the purpose. 



On the road, the lonely road, 

Under the cold, white moon ; 
Under the rugged trees he strode, 
Whistled and shifted his heavV load- 
Whistled a foolish tune. 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS LANGUAGE. 



39 



There was a step timed with his own, 

A figure that stooped and bowed ; 
A cold white blade that flashed and shone, 
Like a splinter of daylight downward throwii — 

And the moon went behind a cloud. 

l'>ut the moon came out so broad and good 

The barn-fowl woke and crowed, 
Then roughed his feathers iii drowsy mood ; 
.\nd the brown owl called to his mate in the wood 

That a man lay dead in the road. 

W. W. Harney. 



Example VII. 

Problem : To teach the principle 
of written co}nposition. [Rules for 
facility in express.son.] 

Two things are necessary to 
make a ready writer. First, he 
must have something to say ; sec- 
ond, he miLst be able to saj' it. 
Composition writing to children i.s 
often an irksome task. -Those of 
us who " had our turn" a genera- 
tion ago, can remember with what 
dread we heard the announcement, 
" Bring compositions to-morrow." 

But methods have changed ; now 
in many schools to write a com- 
position is one of the agreeable 
tasks. And there is no reason why 
it should not be in all schools. 

Children, like their elders love to 
talk, and when left free to entertain 
each other, will prattle hour after 
hour. 

The series of lessons outlined 
below are based on the theory, that 
anyone having the power to think 
— and that includes every sane 
human being — can be taught to 
put in writing w^hatever desires, 
opinions, requests, etc., he may be 
called on to put into spoken words. 
The circumstances of every one's 
life compel him to talk a great deal. 
Composition writing if it embraces 
those topics on which the pupil 
is obliged to talk is the most effec- 
tive means of educating him to 
use conventional forms of .speech. 



I. Select one pupil, and while 
the others give attention, conduct 
a conversation with him in writing 
on the board. The class must copy 
the whole work on their slates or 
writing pads. A probable conver- 
sation is appended below. 

" Well Mary, that is a pretty 
dress you have; who selected it?" 

" I told mamma what kind of a 
dress I wanted, and she bought it." 

" Did .she buy it ready made ; 
or did she get the material and 
have it made by a dressmaker? 

" Neither ; she bought the mate- 
rial, and we made it at home." 

" Who are we"^. Do you mean 
to say that yoii had anything to do 
with making that dress ? " 

" Certainly I did. I sewed on 
the buttons, hemmed the skirt, and 
ran some of the seams. Mamma 
and sister did the rest. vSi.ster cut 
it out and fitted it." 

In conducting this conversation when your 
pupil mi.sspeUs a word or fails to punctuate, 
correct the mistake before the class is allowed 
to copy it. 

2. Reverse the process if possible, 
at the next lesson. Indttce some 
one to take the lead in the conver- 
sation. It will give you an oppor- 
tunity b}' making full answers, to 
introduce new idioms, and to illus- 
trate new uses of the punctuation 
marks. 

3. After some days of this prac- 
tice, when the children have ob- 
served and compared the work of 



40 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



the several lessons, so as to have 
formed some rules for punctuation, 
divide them into pairs, and let 
each pair write a slate full upon 
any topic they may wish to con- 
verse. 

One can readily tell when' to 
venture upon " pairing off" by no- 
ticing the progress nf the children 
you have called to the board from 
time to time. If these show by 
their work that they have assimi- 
lated rules for punctuation, it may 
be safely assumed that all have. 

4. As soon as one pair is ready, 
examine their joint work, point 
out errors, and have them correc- 
ted. Examine other slates in turn 
as they are finished — as many as 
your time will allow. It is not at 
all necessary that every slate should 
be examined every day. 

Have a number of the dialogues 
read aloud for the edification of the 
class. Encourage the children to 
ask how to spell words they are 
uncertain about before writing 
them, and to inquire about wheie 
marks should be placed. When 
called on to decide as to a comma 
or other mark, show them a sinii/ar 
passage in their reader and let // 
decide the point. Thus you inci- 
dentall}^ teach them how to find 
out for themselves. 

5. Continue the "pairing pro- 
cess," putting the read}^ learners 
with the slow, utilizing their knowl- 
edge to help those who need help, 
until 3'our examination of their 
work shows that they have adopted 
comprehensive idioms, and are 
punctuating automatically. Then 
ask each one to conduct both sides 
of the conversation, that is, let 
him write both questions and an- 
swers. At first many will fail to 
do this, but when they hear read 
the productions of their com- 
rades, who are ble.ssed with livelv 



imaginations, they will understand 
how it is done. 

6. The next step is to have the 
conversations upon some set topic, 
as the geography lesson for the day, ' 
upon Europe, upon Washington, 
or upon a visit somewhere. 

7. Surprise the children some 
day by erasing the questions, from 
the conversations you select to 
have read aloud. It will be a gen- 
uine pleasure to them to discover 
how nicety the answers fit together. 
At the next lesson (each for him- 
self,) let them prepare their slates 
with the end in view of erasing the 
questions. This will oblige them 
to answer in complete sentences, j 
and to question in logical order. I 

When your children can make a 
success following this direction, 
they are 'ready to drop the ques- 
tions entirely ; they are ready for 
composition, they have assimilated 
this rule : To be able to write a 
composition, one must be able to ask 
himself questions, and 7vritr the an- 
szvcrs. 

BUILDING A VOCABULARY. 

In practice with classes following 
the method just outlined, I have 
noticed the curious fact that chil- 
dren who were reading in the fifth 
reader understandingly, and who 
were working out intelligenily a 
knowledge of geograph\^ from read- 
ing the text, failed to use to any 
extent many words, with the mean- 
ing of which they were perfectly 
familiar. 

Their compositions were admir- 
able, both in idiom and punctua- 
tion, but their wf^rds were not 
" book words." 

It has been a serious problem 
with me how to oblige children to 
use in language new words learned 
at school. I have not yet mastered 
the art, but I know that I am hav- 



II.LUSTRATIVE I.ESSONS. LANGUAGE. 



41 



ing better succe.s.i than I once had. 
The word lessons outlined in 
Chapter IV, assist in reaching the 
end desired. In addition to these 
I have used with great advantage 
certain lessons suggested in Stick- 
uey's Language Lessons, No. 4, 
varying them to suit the particular 
purpose for which I use them. 

(A) Problem: jo increase the 
child s adjective vocabulary. 

1. Select a number of common 
objects, as tree, house, man, field, 
road, pond, etc., making a group 
comprehensive enough to exhaust 
the resources of the language in 
describing them. 

2. Draw out by questions, as 
many adjectives as you can, de- 
scriptive of particular objects under 
each class in all possible positions 
and other relations. This can be 
done after the children cease to 
suggest, by picturing for them the 
"kind of" by a question, thus: 
"What kind of a pond is it that a 
boy can wade? What kind of a 
road is it that stretches over ten 
miles in going six^* If a field 
yields 40 bu. of wheat, and another 
only 10 bu. to the acre, what kind 
of a field is each?" 

It will be found that children five 
or six years in school, can supply 
these words as readily as grown 
people. They have learned the 
meanings from their reading les- 
sons. The object of this drill is to 
cause them to adopt them for use. 

3. Search the text books your 
class use for other adjectives. Get 
the children to describe the parti- 
cular relations of the case in hand 
that suggest the adjective under 
discussion. For instance, some 
one has called attention to zvhirling 
and dashing in the lines. 

" Soon whirliug, dashing snowflakes 

Will beat the window pane." 
Inquire why zvhirling is used 



instead of turning or tumbling'^ 
Why dashi7ig instead of driving or 
falling, or some other, kindred in 
meaning? Illustrate by action all 
meanings brought into comparison. 

4. Bring out uses of these words 
by inducing the children to make 
sentences including them. Sup- 
pose the word "sedate" for in- 
stance, has been added to the list. 
Now let childen name particular 
individuals of their acquaintance 
coming under the term sedate, as 
follows : 

" Mr. Williams is a sedate man." 
" Why do you think so? " Because 
he is never in a hurry, because he 
thinks before he acts, because he 
is not passionate, because he is in 
earnest always, etc., etc." 

5. After tw'o or three hundred 
new adjectives are collected in this 
way, select from the list words in 
no way synonymous, and have the 
children write under them others 
from the list kindred in meaning. 
This insures an exhaustive com- 
parison of the whole material. 
After this a child is very apt to 
have a word in memory for any 
quality he may wish to picture. 

Below is illustrated how the 
work of this direction will appear 
on the board. 

(I) (2) (3) (4) 

good, round, for, etc. 

elegant, circular, distant, etc. 
likely, curved, remote, etc. 

tolerable, oval, ancient, etc. 

fair, spherical, eternal, etc. 

etc., etc., etc., etc. 

(B) Problem : 'J'o increase the 
child's vocabulary of abstract terms. 

I . PI old before the class a ruler 
and a cane. Ask them to discover 
all the respects in which they are 
alike.. Bring other objects as a 
poker, a penholder, a pencil, etc., 
into the group under comparison 
till von a:et the word length sugr- 



42 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



gested as the name of the common 
attribute, or until you have answers 
showing that children have the 
idea kmgth. In the latter case you 
must give the term to name the 
resemblance they observe. 

2. So continue with direction, 
space, titnc, color, redness, quantity, 
and others that you may wish to 
bring into their vocabulary. 

(C) Problem : To increase the 
verb vocabulary. 

I. Proceed as with adjectives 
varying the questions to .suit the 
purpose in hand. 

(/?) Problem : To increase the 
adverb vocabulary. 



1. Make lists of words and ad- 
juncts using the questions how ? 
when? where? why? in the same 
general manner prescribed under 
the studv of adjectives, for "what 
kind of?'" 

2. Add to the lists other expres- 
sions found in text books, which 
seem to perform the functions hoiv, 
when, etc. When the meaning is 
not clear from the context, illustrate 
the material before placing it in 
the lists. 

3. Classify the material gathered 
under the heads aV)ove noted, 
thus : 



How ? 
slowly , 
in a hurr}', 
awkwardly, 
etc., 



When? Where? W^hy? 

last week, at home, for this reason, 

now, here, because he went, 

never. underneath the .stone, to get rich, 
etc., etc., etc. 

CHAPTER VII. 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS. GRAM:\IAK. 



\ I The observant reader will 
s-A^ have noticed that much of 
the work outlined in previous chap- 
ters is an essential part of gram- 
matical instruction. The whole 
range of grammar includes ortho- 
graph5^ orthoepy, etymolog>- and 
syntax. 

I have given outlines to show 
how the pupil may be taught to 
spell, and I have given under 
Language Work certain principles 
in the acquiring of which the pupil 
has been caused to analyze the 
sentence, and to learn but not 
name its essential parts. 

The purpose in mind of the 
teacher in that work should be to 
equip a pupil for expressing him- 
self intelligently in writing. If 
used for this purpose, the power 
sought to be imparted will come, 
and along with it will have come 



the power of understanding de- 
-scriptions, botli of objects and 
scenes, or events written by others. 
The pupil thoroughly equipped 
with the working principles out- 
lined, in Chapters IV, V, VI, can 
read History and tales of adven- 
ture with profit ; he can enjoy 
novels of the better class. But he 
cannot read that class of works in 
which great thinkers have recorded 
their conclusions ; he cannot read 
(except with the assistance of a 
teacher,) works in science. 

A course in grammar is the most 
expeditious means of equipping a 
pupil with the power of " inherit- 
ing the stored wisdom of the cen- 
turies." 

It is a mistake to use the facts 
formulated in a text book on gram- 
mar, for the purpose of "teaching 
the pupil to speak and write cor- 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS. (iRAMMAR. 



43 



rectly," for he must learn that art 
through such lessons as have been 
outlined heretofore. He must be 
taught grammar in order to be able 
to master in reading such passages 
as these : 

"The character of all military 
operations, whether those of stra- 
tegy or tactics, is mainly determined 
by the nature of the armies en- 
gaged in then." ^Encyclopedia 
Brittanica?[ 

"Beeswax is possessed of prop- 
erties which render it a most con- 
venient medium for preparing fig- 
ures and models, either by model- 
ling or by casting in moulds," 

\ibid:\ 

" To secure the highest attainable 
degree of maturity in the grapes, 
the vintage is postponed until the 
grapes almost begin to wither, and 
the white grapes on the sunny side 
of the bunches exhibit a 3'ellowish 
brown colour, and show signs of 
flaccidity." \Ibid?^ 

Read these extracts as an experi- 
ment : ponder them until 3'ou get a 
clear idea of what each tells, then 
observe to what extent and how 
your knowledge of " grammatical 
laws and syntax" has assisted you. 

Do this and you will undenstand 
better than I could otherwise tell 
you the true function of grammar 
as a school study. You will then 
go more intelligently about your 
task, for you will have in mind a 
definite purpose in giving the les- 
sons. 

The place of grammar in school 
is a debated one. If writers and 
speakers were all agreed upon the 
meaning of the term, I have the 
idea that bickering would cease. 

I have tried to indicate in this 
introduction what I believe to be 
the purpose of Grammar; its place 
as determined by that purpose 
would hz to " go up higher." 



Below are presented several ex- 
amples of what I conceive to be 
the proper method of inducting a 
pupil into the knowledge embraced 
by the definitions, hy analysis, and 
by parsing. 

Example I. 
Problem : To teach the ivorking 
pyinciples that determine the essential 
parts of a sentence. [How to ana- 
lyze.] 

1. Perform some action in pres- 
ence of the class. Have some 
individual describe what happened. 
Write the result on the board, and 
require the children to copy on 
their slates or pads, thus : 

{a) The teacher struck the desk 
with a ruler. 

2. Ask questions as follows : 
Who struck the desk ? 
What did the teacher do ? 
What did he strike ? 

How did he strike ? 

With which ruler? 

Which teacher? Which desk? 

And as the answers are given by 
the pupils, arrange them according 
to whatever graphical form you 
may prefer. 

[I use Butler's diagraming be- 
cause it is familiar to me.] 

Your work with the sentence 
will then appear as below : 

The 
1 Teacher the 

(a) :- desk 

( struck 

with— ruler 

Take pains to have the pupils understand that 
the two forms are identical in meaning^. This 

can be done by the use of the sign between 

them, and by having sentences read from the 
diagram occasionally. 

3. Continue by performing other 
actions, such as would be described 
by the sentences below, varying 
the idiom little by little until you 
have practiced 3'our class in simple 
complex, and compound sentences 



44 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



made in their own language, out oj 
their own experiences. Diagram 
these and have them copied day by 
day. Three or four weeks of this 
work will be well utilized if supple- 
mented by other work according 
to the next direction. 

{b) The ball rolled from the table 
to the floor. 

{c) The teacher's hat hangs on 
the peg nearest the door. 

{d) The chair with a torn seat 
was taken out of the room. 

{e) The old lady who lives next 
door, came to inquire abovit her 
grandson, George Sanders. 

{/) The teacher gave her a good 
accourtt of George. 

{g) Henry took a hat and a cap 
off their hooks ; he brought them to 
the teacher, who asked us to tell 
how they were alike. 

4. When a number of sentences 
have been diagrammed in the way 



indicated, the pupils . will have 
noticed that certain parts of the 
diagram (function.s) are recorded in 
answer to certain questions. If 
an}' have not observed this without 
prompting, they can be led to do 
so by alternating your duties in the 
matter with theirs. It adds interest 
to the work to let some pupil act 
as teacher, and causes every one to 
notice more closely the achats of 
the work. Having secured obser- 
vation to the work, without telling 
what you are intending to do, re- 
quire them to classify the parts of 
their sentences by their resem- 
blances to certain parts that you 
select. 

Some of the work as it would 
appear on their tablets for the sen- 
tences above would be as follows, 
the words at the head of each col- 
umn being the type words you 
gave them : 



A. 


B. 


C. 




D. 


He?iry, 


struck, 


desk, 




nearest the door. 


teacher, 


rolled, 


account. 




with a torn seat, 


lady. 


was taken, 


hat and cap. 




who lives next door 


chair, 


lines. 


them, 




the. 


ball, 


came, 


how they were alike. 


a. 


he. 


gave. 


etc., 




next, 


who. 


took. 


etc., 




of George. 


etc., 


etc. 









This work of comparing the 
parts of the sentences used each 
day, ought to be continued till all 
the class can fill out the columns 
with readiness. Being able to 
make the column, {A) assures the 
teacher that the pupils hai^e the 
experience necessary to understand 
what the subject is. Have them 



tell what they think, and alter the 
language they give to the definition 
you want. So proceed with {B) 
for predicate, with (C) for object, 
with {D) for adjective modijier, and 
with other groups formed by the 
children comparing with types you 
have selected from their sentences 
thus : 



[For adverbial modijier^ 
on the peg (how) 
to the floor ( where) 


U' 


or possessive 
teacher's 
his 


to inquire ( wh}-) 
then (when) 




their 
her 


etc. 




etc. 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS. GRAMMAR. 



45 



5. Continue with sentences sel- 
ected from some easy text, the 
same kind of lessons. It will be 
found usually that the sentences in 
a third reader are difficult enough 
at first. When they can diagram 
readily, gradually drop that work, 
and have them tell the analysis; 
in writing, at first, to secure correct 
forms of expression and consecu- 
tive habits of observing, and, after- 
wards, orally. 

A specimen of written analysis 
is given below. 

" Chair is the .subject, it is modi- 
fied by the, a first class adjective 
modifier, and by zvith a torii seat, 
an adjective modifier of the second 
class. The noun seat is modified 
by a and torn, modifiers of the first 
class. \]'as taken is the predicate; 
it is modified by out of the room, an 
adverbial modifier of the second 
class. The noun room is modified 
by the." 

6. Continue analysis (oral, ) grad- 
ually changing the nature of the 
sentences, until the class can read- 
il}^ analyze stanzas from poetry, 
and such extracts as were quoted 
on page 43-. 

I have given under the directions all of the 
work that" belongs to the process of learning- 
analysis. But it is not intended that the pupil 
shall do this before anything else is learned. I 
had to put it all together, in order to show the 



relations oS one part to the others. 

There is a necessity for technical names, which 
are used for brevity in the oral analysis. And 
that the Judgment of the pupil may act uner- 
ringly a formal study of definitions, a develop- 
ment of them is also necessary. These studies 
and in fact the whole work would be better done 
in alternation with the other examples of prin- 
ciple development illustrated below. 

Example II. 

Problem: To teach the principles 
that determine classification. (How 
to define and use definitions of 
parts of speech.) 

I . Develop a series of sentences 
from the pupils" experiences, after 
the manner indicated in the last 
example, in which several words 
belonging to the class you have in 
mind to teach are used. Question 
upon the office of each word in 
turn, till each has been perceived. 
Write out the statements describing 
each, and by comparison of these 
statements, noting their resem- 
blances get a general statement 
which includes the several specific 
statements. This statement con- 
stitutes the law for the definition. 
For instance : 

{a) An old man needs a stout 
cane. 

(f>) That tall chimney overlooks 
a zvide space. 

{c) Greefi apples are not u.sually 
S7veet. 

etc., etc., etc.. etc. 



Specific 
vStatements 



Old describes a man. 
Sto7d describes a cane. 
Tall describes a chimney. 
Wide describes a space. 
Green describes certain apples. 
Sweet describes other apples. 



General : .If any words describe 
objects. 

These words are now perceived 
by the pupils to belong to a class, 
i. e., a resemblance is discovered in 
them ; the demand for a name for 
the cla.ss is born. When the 
teacher gives the name, Descriptive 



Adjective, they are ready to define 
it by the general law they have 
discovered. Another group may 
be developed to include uses of 
several definitive adjectives. From 
this series specific statements can 
be questioned out, which will com- 
bine into the general law : Many 



46 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



words are used to point out zvhicli 
object or objects are mea^it. Using 
this law to guide them, the pupils 
will be able to define, Definitive 
Adjective. 

When both classes of adjectives 
are clearly established in mind, the 
pupils can be led to discover the 
resemblance between them, as 
follows : 

Develop sentences containing 
such expressions as 

{a) rich man, 

{b) that man, 

(f) lame horse, 

{d) this house, 

(e) six men, 

( /') open windows. 

Set up a comparison as to the 
extent of meaning of the whole 
sentence, when man, horse, house, 
etc., stand alone, and when they are 
modified by rich, that, lame, etc. 
Thus it is apparent that, Six men 
entered the house, cannot be thought 
to include as many as, Men entered 
the house. So for the other. 

When the comparison has been 
made in all the examples, separate 
statements of the facts perceived, 
can be questioned out 'from which 
the general law. Many words are 
used to restrict the meaning of others, 
can be derived. 

2. In teaching the definition for 
adverb, pursue the same general 
plan as has been outlined for adjec- 
tives. Sentences made by the pu- 
pils descriptive of their experiences, 
must be improvised. In answer to, 
" What is this or that used for? " 
Statements as follows, can be ob- 
tained. 

{a) Boldly is used to tell Inrn' the 
boy adva7iced. 

(b) Slowly tells hcTi' the teacher 
walked. 

(/) l^ery describes ho7i' S7ce.i the 
apple is. 

(d I Soon tells luhen Jane is goin^ 



to the country. ■ 

{e) Quite tells ho'a' sick the baby 1 
was. 

(/') Lately tells 'a'hen the fever 
prevailed. J 

{g) Yo7ider tQ\\ii\\h.itrii]oh\\ lives. ^ 
etc., etc,, etc., etc., etc. 

By comparing the words italic- 
ised, as was illustrated under adjec- 
tives, two general laws may be 
discovered, viz. 

{A) Some words are used to 
describe actions. 

(B) Some words are used to 
describe gualities. 

As in the other case the resem- 
blance between the words under 
each law, can be .shown, that is, 
that they all come under the law : 
" Many 7 fords are used to restrict the 
meaning of others. 

The difference between adjectives 
and the neiv class can be easily 
shown by a group containing both 
kinds. One restricts the meaning 
of names of objects the other 
restricts the meaning of names of 
actions, qualities, etc. 

A new species has been discov- 
ered, a new name is wanted. Ad- 
verb is given, and the pupils can 
define it. 

3. In teaching noun, verb, pre- 
position, pronoun and cojijunction, 
the same manner of leading up to 
the definition should be used, viz : 
Make a group of sentences, describ- 
ing selected experiences of the 
pupils. From these have the pu- 
pils make specific statement of 
scriptive, of the use of individual 
words of the class you are intend- 
ing them to discover. And from 
these species by comparison lead 
to the discoverN'^ of a general law. 
In obedience to that law have the 
]^upils write a definition. 

4. After the parts of .speech are 
learned, give many lessons in cla.s- 
sif5'ing words t>ccurring in sen- 



ILLl'STRATIVK LESSONvS. GRAMMAR. 



47 



tences. vSuppose the following 
sentences have been developed, 
for the analysis lesson or for any 
other purpose. 

(a) A heavy cart rattles loudly 
on a granite pavement. 

{d) The wind blows from the 
south-west to-day. 

(f) Yesterday it blew from the 



north-east. 

{(/ ) It blew almost a gale yester- 
day, but to-day it is mild and 
balmy. 

etc., etc,, etc., etc., etc. 

Let the pupils arrange them in 
columns under the various defini- 
tions they are supposed to have 
learned, thus : 



Nouns: Adjectives; Verbs: 

wind, balm}-, blew, 

south-east, mild, is, 

gale, the, blows, 

cart, granite, rattles, 

etc., etc., etc.. 



Preposition: Adverbs: Pronouns. 
from. almost, it, 

on, to-day, it, 

Conjunctions, 3^esterday, etc., 
but, loudly, etc., 

and, etc., etc. 



Mistakes will be made in classi- 
fying. The question ze'/iy, which it 
is necessary for the teacher to use 
in making changes, obliges the 
pupil to think over anew, the pro- 
cess of learning his principles ; his 
mistakes -assist in his future work. 

5- Continue the lessons sugges- 
ted by direction 4, into sentences, 
taken at first from easy readings, 
but afterwards, from readings of 
increasing difficulty. The end 
aimed at is to enable the pupil to 



readily classify ab.stract terms, and 
the various figures of speech that 
he meets in his reading. 

Read the following extract and 
classify each word in it, and I think 
you can appreciate of how much 
value the seiies of lessons sugges- 
ted in this example are to a student. 
The experiment, I think, will also 
help to make clear to you the steps 
you ought to take in leading your 
pupil to the end. 



" Meanwhile 
The sun in his setting sent up the last smile 
Of his power, to baffle the storm. And behold ! 
O'er the mountains embattled, his armies, all gold, 
Rose and rested ; while far up the dim airy crags. 
Its artillery silenced, its banners in rags. 
The rear of the tempest its sullen retreat 
Drew off slowlj^, receding in silence, to meet 
The powers of the night, which now gathering afar. 
Had already sent forward one bright signal star." 

Lord ia'Tton. 



Example III. 

Problem : To teach the principles 
that detcrnmie the properties of words. 

I read in my grammar when I 
was a boy, and recited to my 
teacher, " To nouns belong the fol- 
lowing properties \ Number, Gender, 
Case and Person. I think I learned 



it towards the end of my school 
life, but it was a great burden for 
me to wait on the knowledge, 
because I had to remember all 
those 3'ears ever so many defini- 
tions founded on that piece of dic- 
tated wisdom. If I had been led 
at the outset to assimilate the 



48 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



knowledge it formulates, both it .eaders; in that case it would be better to begii. 

, , ° . . , , ' . . , the work by taking the list from sentences de- 

and the principles underlying the ....ipnyeof thciroumexperiencrs. 
definitions would have been a part 

of my being. I would have had 2. Lead the pupils to recognize 
nothing to remember, no load to the differences founded on the pnn- 
Q2ixxy P^^^ underlying the various proper- 
Here is exactly a parrallel case ties as they appear in the objects 
for you to consider, in order to named by the noun, or in the use 
understand why I ask you to give to which the noun is applied. This 
the lessons embraced by the direc- you can readily do by questioning, 
tions I shall presently present ; the thus ; Maji names one person ; 
case is this, A man can walk all what does women name? Horse 
day and not feel fatigued from car- is the name of a male animal ; 
rying his head on his shoulders, what is cow the name of? Stove is 
but he soon tires if a book weighing used as the subject in this sentence ; 
much less than his head lies on his how is house used in that one? etc., 
shoulders ; why is it ? etc. When you have found type 
I. Make a list of all the nouns words for the differences which your 
from a reading lesson. Let the scheme of properties (accidents) 
pupils select them. Take onlv embraces, write the types as below, 
those that they name, for it is these requiring the pupils to classify all 
only that they are competent to the nouns selected under the types 

by their resemblances to them in 

a class are not good usc, or iu coucrete realization. 



compare. 

It may happen 

For Number, 
horse, oxen, 
house, whips, 
tree, stoves, 
etc.," etc.. 



For Geyider. 
man, house, girl's, 
lion, garden, cow, 
sun's, yard, woman, 
etc., etc., etc.. 



For Case, 
desk, hat, dog's, 
cow, lion, girl's, 
stoves, house, sun's, 
etc., ets., etc. 



It is apparent that the same word will appear 
as many times as there are properties in yonr 
scheme. The attention of the pupils must he 
drawn to this fact. ' 

3. Repeat this work of classify- 
ing with other lessons, until the 
children do it readily. 

4. The demand for names for 
the classes having been established, 
deduce general principles, thus : 

{A) Some nouns are used to 
name single things. 

(i9) Some nouns are used to 
name more than one. 

(C) Some nouns are used to 
name male beings. 

etc., etc., etc., etc.. etc. 

From these laws as a guide the 
pupil will be able to define. Mas- 
culine Gender, Neuter Gender, Singu- 
lar Number, Nominative Case, etc., 
as you name his classes. By compar- 



ing the laws for his separate cases' 
numbers, genders, etc., (under j-our 
guidance,) he will be able to per- 
ceive their resemblances, and thus 
arrive at the generalizations under- 
lying Case, Nutnber, Person, etc. 

Proceed in exactly the same 
manner to the development in the 
pupil's mind of a knowledge of the 
accidents belonging to Verb, Ad- 
verb, Pronoun, Adjective, etc. 

Example IV. 

Problem : To teach the principle 
( how) for parsing. 

Parsing notwithstanding the 
abuse it is receiving from critics, 
and notwithstanding the purpose- 
less work done in it in many 
schools, is a healthful exerci.se if 
enough of it is done. 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS GRAMMAR. 



49 



Its purpose as I apprehend it, is 
to cause the definitions and other 
laws of grammar to sink into the 
automatic. To produce this eflFect 
a great deal of parsing must be 
done by the pupil. The pupil who 
is proficient in the art, can parse a 
sentence as he reads it, at a glance. 

Unless a teacher intends to give 
his classes this proficiency, he 
ought not to have them parse at all, 
for it is not the ability to solve 
points in dispute among grammar- 
ians that we should seek to give 
our pupils, but the power to see 
rapidly the points upon which all 
grammarians are agreed. 

The following directions are 
based on the theory that written 
parsing should be used till exact- 
ness is secured, and forms made 
automatic, and then oral parsing 
takes its place. When analysis has 
been learned so well that the pupils 
are about prepared to drop the 
diagrams, and when the definitions 
have been presented, (not neces- 
sarily learned,) is the time to com- 
mence parsing lessons. 

I. Diagram the sentence 3^ou 
wish to parse, the pupils copying, 
thus: 

The 
old 



C clock 



I 



stood 



at-foot 



the 



of-stairs 



the 



The object in directing this to be done is to 
utilize the knowledge which the pupils have of 
relations from the analysis, which relations are 
the same in the parsing lesson. 

2. Arrange the words in a verti- 
cal column on the board. Have 
the pupils do the same on their 
tablets. Question out from indi- 
viduals the points you intend j^our 
parsing lesson to notice. Record 
the answers on a line with the 
word, using abbreviated forms of 
the answers. As the record is 



made on the board, have it copied 
on the tablets. Question thus : 
What part of speech is ^/le ? What 
kind of an adjective? What noun 
does it limit the meaning of? 

Below is shown how the parsing 
of the sentence would appear when 
completed. 

T/ie old clock stood at the foot, etc, 
adj. adj. n v prep adj. n 
1 q c ir stairs 1 c 
clock clock n in foot n 

3 ind 3 

s p s 

N 3 C 

stood s at 

clock 

Usually the initial letter of an answer is a 
suitable abbreviation, as it does not often hap- 
pen that there can be any confusion when one 
form is followed. 

3. When the written parsing is 
completed, have it recited orally. 
After a few days practice, it is a 
good plan to erase the whole work 
of a lesson and have it reproduced 
by the pupils to be inspected before 
the next lesson is given. 

4. Continue with the lessons 
day after day, until the forms have 
become automatic, and until the 
pupils have learned the definitions, 
that decide answers so well, that 
they can dictate the parsing with- 
out questions from you. 

5. Next, give sentences to be 
brought to the class, parsed in full 
on slates or tablets. Have these re- 
cited orally. Direct them to omit 
the parsing of any word in a sen- 
tence that you think many of them 
cannot parse. Question out the 
parsing of these omitted words at 
the recitation. 

6. When the pupils can and do 
bring their lessons without mis- 
takes, drop the written lesson, and 
continue parsing orally. It is well 
though to give always one sentence 



50 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



to be prepared at home in writing, 7. Gradually increase the diflEi- 
and brought to the recitation. This culties in the lessons, dropping off 



insures retention of forms and dili- 
gence in preparation. 



the parsing of words, the parsing 
of which has become so eas3\ that 
it is done automatically. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS. GEOGRAPHY AND HISTORY. 
GEOGRAPHY. 



I have already expressed the 
opinion that " to educate a 
boy in geography, is to insure him 
a living." 

To make this clear, i think it 
will only be necessary for me to 
ask you to reflect on the history of 
wealth accumulation in this country 
for the last fifty years,. Ask your- 
self who among your acquaintances 
have been successful? Who have 
failed to grasp the situation ? Are 
not those who have learned Geog- 
raphy as it should be learned, the 
successful ones? Are not the un- 
successful those who have failed to 
learn about the earth, and the mul- 
tifarious laws of trade ? 

It is from Geography that a man 
gets his data for deciding all prob- 
lems growing out of the struggle 
for life, which is imposed upon him 
by nature. How can he best be 
inducted to the necessary knowl- 
edge, is the the question I wish to 
illustrate by the examples which 
follow. Suffice it to say that, that 
knowledge must come to him al- 
most wholly through atlases, texts, 
pamphlets and other printed mat- 
ter. How to make these mines of 
precious treasures yield there 
golden information, is the problem 
for the teacher to solve. I shall 
give the results of m^^ experience 
under three examples. 

Example I. 
Problem : To teach the principle 



how for getting inforviation from a 
map. 

I wish to put on record here 
before proceeding to give the direc- 
tions for this exercise an opinion I 
hold, which is this : There is no 
subject in the whole curriculum of 
school studies in which there is 
poorer teaching done than in geog- 
raphy. And it is not alone among 
the lowly that inefficiency is found, 
but many of great reputation show 
dense ignorance in what they say 
on this .subject. Whenever I hear 
a great (?) teacher making fun of 
sand maps, and talking wisely 
about geography being a mere 
matter of memory, or advising 
"essentials" in geography, I mark 
him downi at once as ignorant or 
Pharisaical. 

I have chosen for a problem one 
of the first working principles a 
child ought to learn. I think now, 
even after this animated prelude, 
that I shall fail to convince the 
majority of my readers, because 
they can not see the difference 
between saying and thinking: "A 
map is a representation of a part 
or the whole of the earth's surface." 
Unless one does think the truth 
stated above he is helpless for get- 
ting geographical knowledge. 

I. Have 5' our class to observe a 
limited portion of the earth's sur- 
face with a boundary to it, as a field, 
a farm, a district, etc., etc. This 
observation ought to be thorough. 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS. GEOGRAPHY. 



51 



For once, at least, the class ought the pupils, and add to the certainty 
to walk out and view the ground of their information if the teacher 



in company with the teacher. In 
other repetitions the memory of 
those who have been over the 
ground may be utilized in gather- 
ing the data. Measurements ought 
to be made, both vertical and hori- 



should procure a set of relief maps 
of continents. These can be 
made easily out of paper, pulp, or 
putty, or other plastic material. 
Read what your Geography says 
about South America with a relief 



zontal. and angles and meanderings map before you, stopping after 
of streams, roads, fences, etc., ought each paragraph to verify the state- 
to be noted. Products and other ments made, and you will readily 
features of the section ought to be see the truth of my observations 
listed. In short, full data should above. 



be gathered of the portion of earth 
it is intended to represent. It will 
be better not to tell the children 
what you are taking the walk for, 
and why you are taking so many 
measurements, and making them 
notice so manv things. When vou 



Example II. 

Problem : To teach the working 
principle for getting information from 
the text. 

The cream of geography is in 
the descriptive text, and yet go 
begin making a map of the ground into a school room when 3'ou will, 
with them then they will know, the chances are nine in ten that 
and they will also know what to you will find the teacher feeding 
look for when you ask them to get the children on the skimmed milk 
the data for another map. of map questions. Under such a 

2. After the data are collected regimen as this, is it any wonder, 
for the first map, which is a field that Chicago has a place as a black 
perhaps, agree upon a scale and spot only, in the minds of so many 
proceed to produce the outline on American boys, and that fertile 
the blackboard and also upon the Kansas is but the border of the 
floor, if 3^ouhave no molding board. " Great American Desert," to many 
L/Ct each child produce the same middle-aged men of to-day. 
on his slate or writing pad or sheet Geography is hard reading, but 
of drawing paper. Continue till to one who knows how to read it, 



the map is completed, using the 
conventional signs used by map- 
makers to mark bondaries, streams, 
etc. Work altogether, using sand 
in con.structing the relief map. 

3. Continue map-making from 
data that the pupils have gathered 



it is far more fascinating than the 
stories of Aladdin and Sindbad, 
because it is a romance of realities. 
My love for geography was in- 
spired by a teacher from " Down 
East." in whose hands it was my 
good fortune to be placed for five 



under your directions, till most of months, when I was about 10 years 



the conventional signs used in map- 
making have been brought into 
use. It will be found that the 
children will then be able to tell 
what a map is; they will be in 
po.ssession of the principle, and can 
get information from maps. 



old. Hubby was a lazy man, and 
his methods were those of a lazy 
man, so the people said, for he let 
us recite our geography " on the 
book," and he told us such delight- 
ful .stories of the wonders we read 
of in our geographies. But I en- 



4. It would save much time for joyed Hubby's method, and I never 



52 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



tired of reading again the delight- 
ful stories that lay in such prosy 
lines, as : 

" London contains more than a 
million of people." 

" In France the people spend a 
good deal of their time out of 
doors." 

After Hubby had dropped out of 
my life, the habit of realizing what 
the dry recitals of geography con- 
tained, remained with me ; / had 
learned hoiv to read the subject. 

Since I have been a man, I have 
traveled about a good deal ; I have 
stood on the shore of the Atlantic; 
I have cro.ssed the great lakes ; I 
have stood on the bank of the 
great Mississippi; I have listened 
to the roar of Niagara ; I have 
crossed the Alleghanies ; and I 
have seen New York. But all 
these I had seen and knew before 
I visited them. 

I have taken Hubby as my model 
in teaching geography. By follow- 
ing the directions below, I think 
any observant teacher will soon 
realize the great power the method 
has for arousing and sustaining 
interest in w^hat I regret to say is a 
tiresome study to children. 

{A) Assign no lesson in advance 
— at least for some months — but 
spend the time you have for recita- 
tion in reading zuith the children, 
sentence by sentence, and para- 
graph by paragraph, the story as it 
is told in the text. 

The actual necessity' of the liv- 
ing teacher co-operating with the 
pupil in clothing the words with 
life, will be apparent to any one 
who shall set the task below for a 
ten 3'ear old boy to master unaided, 
and who shall then patiently ex- 
amine and find out how much he 
has learned. 

" Kentucky is about half the size of Kansas. 
Its surface is mostly hilly, and slopes towards 



the northwest The southeastern part is moun- 
tainous. In the production of tobacco, hemp, 
and flax, Kentucky surpasses every other state 
in the Union. The " blue grass " region, in the 
basins of the Licking and Kentucky rivers, is 
celebrated for fine horses. Louisville, at the 
falls of the Ohio River, is the most important 
tobacco market in the country." 

To read this aloud so as to be 
understood by the teacher, to an- 
swer a few questions in the terms 
of the extract, is not to realize 
what it tells. 

How big is Kansas? Where is 
it ? What is a hilly surface ? How 
does it differ from the surface in 
view from the window ? What 
means mountainous? How high 
are those mountains ? How does 
tobacco look in the field ? When 
is it cut? How prepared for mar- 
ket? Name something made of 
hemp? Something made of flax? 
Did you ever see hemp growing? 
Or flax? What is a river basin? 
Which is larger the Kentucky or 
the Licking? How did these rivers 
come by their names? What is 
blue grass? What do horses eat? 
What kind of horses are meant? 
Did you ever see a horse race? Do 
you know how much tobacco is 
sold in Louisville ? And when it is 
sold ? And how ? Is anything else 
sold in Louisville? How large a 
city is it? What large city have 
you visited? How does it differ 
from Louisville ? What are falls ? 
How high are the falls of the Ohio? 
How wide is the Ohio at Louisville? 
These questions all touch upon 
things that one thinks about in 
reading the paragraph above if he 
has learned it ; can a teacher not 
assure this concept by telling the 
stories to the children when his 
questions fail to get a response? 
Hubb}^ would spend a half hour 
on such an extract as this, and 
send us home eager to read our 
book, and find other entrancing 
pictures for ourselves. 



ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS. HISTORY, 



53 



{B) After the text treating of a 
continent or country, or slate is 
read in the manner outHned under 
direction {A) above, review it by 
such an outHne as is shown below. 

MEXICO. 

Vera Cruz-Rio Grande-Plateau- 
Cortez-Indians-Spain-Gen. Scott- 
California-Cochineal-Cactus-etc. 

Prepare this oLitlins by requiring 
the children to name something 
that Mexico makes them think of. 
As the names Vera Cruz-Rio 
Grande, etc., are given, put them 
on the board. Encourage every 
one to think of something. When 
the "thoughts" are all down, in- 
quire " why," and the stories will 
come forth in abundancee. L,et 
each child write a composition on 
Mexico for you after this review. 
This review serves the double pur- 
pose of associating the facts about 
Mexico in the mind, and of caus- 
ing the child to read again what 
has now become a delightful story 
to him. 

(C) After many countries, states, 
etc., are read consecutively, and 
reviewed as indicated above under 
direction {B), inaugurate similar 
reviews on such topics as Cotton, 
Rice, Tobacco, Codfish, Prairies, Sel- 
vas, Beeves, Gold, Coal, etc., etc. 

These reviews will serve to asso- 
ciate the things reviewed with all 
the places concerned in their pro- 
duction, transportation, manufac- 
ture and consumption. 

HISTORY. 

History tells of marching armies, 
of plains and mountains traversed; 
of men and women, of their trials 
and triumphs or disappointments ; 
of policies and parties ; of changes 
produced ; of ideas and inventions, 
of their spread and development. 

The objects brought under obser- 
vation by a series of history les- 



sons, since the}^ are but the acts of 
people " of like passions," with the 
3^outhful reader, can be made the 
means by skillful teaching of in- 
ducting that reader, by comparing 
them with his own acts under par- 
allel circumstances into the posses- 
sion of many correct ethical con- 
cepts. A course in history is 
therefore a useful training .for 
citizenship. Moreover as its events 
are all in the past, and have to be 
pictured by imagination to be real- 
ized, it affords the best, the only 
other field being that of mythology 
— for disciplining the retentive 
power of the intellect. 

I shall present the subject by 
giving directions for teaching two 
working principles. 

Example III. 

Problem : To teach the principle 
(how) to get information. 

Geography and History are so 
related, that the one exactly com- 
plements the other. In presenting 
the principle " how to get informa- 
tion," in geograph}' the teacher's 
part in filling in with the stories to 
adorn the skeleton outlined by the 
text, was shown. In history the 
case is exactly reversed, the text 
gives the stories, and the teacher's 
work lies in supplying the skeleton. 

By his aid the pupil must be led 
along with the marching armies; 
he must see them in camp, and 
hear the neighing of war horses, 
and the rumbling of army wagons. 
By the teacher's good offices the 
pupil must be made acquainted 
with the men and women of the 
stor}^ ; ■ he must see their faces and 
dress, and hear their voices; he 
must go with them to and fro on 
their journeys. Roads and cities 
must be rebuilt by this clever work- 
man, and old armor be burnished 
anew. By the power of this kind 



54 



PRINCIPLES IN' TKACHINf.. 



genius, the pupil must be trans- 
ported from the " now " into the 
'< tlieii " and live the scenes he 
reads of. 

{A) Read with the children the 
paragraphs of the lesson for the 
day. Question upon the text so as 
to lead to clear concepts in the 
mind of the pupil of the time, place, 
and? people mentioned. For in- 
stance suppose this to be a reading : 
" While these stirring events had 
been going on in the Shenandoah 
Valley, McClellan had pushed his 
left wing across the Chickahomin}-. 
A terrible storm had flooded the 
swamps, turned the roads to mud, 
and converted the Chickahominy 
Creek into a broad river. Johnson 
seized the opportunity to fall with 
tremendous force upon the exposed 
wing. At first, the Confederates 
swept all before them, but General 
Sumner throwing his men across 
the tottering bridges over the 
Chickahominy, checked the col- 
umn which was trying to seize the 
bridges and thus separate the two 
portions of the army. General 
Johnston was severely wounded. 
Night put an end to the contest. 
In the morning, the Confederates 
renewed the attack, but the loss of 
their general was fatal, and they 
were repulsed in great disorder." 

Question upon it — during pauses 
in the reading — supplying the in- 
formation when the children fail to 
respond, as follows : 

What are "stirring events?" 
What stirring events are alluded 
to? Where is the Shenandoah 
Valley ? How far away ? In what 
direction ? Who was McClellan ? 
What rank had he ? How came he 
to be appointed? What is meant 
by "left wing?" How did he 
"push" the left wing across? 
How many men were in it ? How 
long did it take? Was it done at 



night ? How large was the Chick- 
ahominy ? How far apart were the 
two wings during the flood? Who . 
was Johnston ? How many men 
had he ? Where were they ? What 
would you have done under the 
circumstances? Describe his "fal- 
ling with tremendous foice " on 
the exposed wing? What were 
they exposed to ? Did they know 
it? What had they probably done? 
Who were the Confederates? How 
were they dressed? Describe their 
" sweeping all before them ?" How 
far did they "sweep" the field? 
Who was Gen. Sumner? His ■ 
rank? How did he command the i 
left wing or the right wing? De- 
scribe his "throwing his men" 
across? How did he " check" the 
column ? What is a column ? 
What was this column tr3nng to do? 
Where was the attack made the 
next morning? Why did they 
wait till morning? What was prob- 
ably beingdone on both sides during 
the night ? Where was Gen. John- 
ston? Did his men know of it? 
Did he die from the wound? De- 
scribe a " repulse in great dis- 
order?" Why did McClellan not 
take advantage of the disorder? 
What is the name of this battle? 
Why so called ? Describe the face 
of the country? Draw a map of 
the battle field. Locate the armies 
before and after the battle. What 
were the losses ? Date of the 
battle ? 

It may be objected that my questions are too 
exhaustive. It must not be supposed that I 
claim that this must be done every time. I used 
the questions with this extract to illustrate the 
whole details of skcleton-makinj ; if i:l de- 
scriptions of other battles " left wing," " push- 
ing across," "throwing across," " falling with 
tremendous force," "repulsing in prcat dis- 
order," have been pictured adeqnatclj-, there 
wpuld only be a waste of time in repeating them 
here. The teacher ought always to know what 
details need illustration. 

{H) After the reading of a cam- 



ILLISTR^VTIVK I.lvSSONS. HISTORY 



^0 



will form Liu lialiit in l\iiu of reflfting' upon 
each isolated .stalemeiit, considering it both 



paign, an aclministratiou, ur aii)- 

definite portion of the text, which ^^ ^^^.^^ ^^„j ^..,^,^^.. .^ ^^„^,^ ^^ cultivate in 

in itself constitutes a complex unit him the power of making^ correct judgments 
of the whole narrative, is finished, "PO" the credibility of opinions advanced by 

conduct a review of it as follows 



Write the title on the board and ask 
the children to name other events, 
persons, places, etc., that are asso- 
ciated with it in their minds. 
Write these also on the board, and 



the authi 

KXAMI'LK 1\'. 

PROB1.KM : To icach ilu principles 
of retention and recollection. ^Rules 
for remembering- and recalling.) 

Tliat one remembers and recalls 



when the associations are all re- ^^ces, names, and events by rule, I 
corded, have the whole story re- ^eel sure. But because the rule is 
peated as these associations recall it. applied automatically, many people 
A specimen of what might be are unconscious of its existence, 
the board work of a portion of ^^^ the directions given below, I 



follow the theory that a time, a 
place, a person, and a thing, (ac- 
tion) being associated, there is 
formed a concept, which is more 
apt to be recollected than if it 
wants one or more of these essen- 
tials. Moreover such concepts 
being complete, attract the reten- 
tive faculty and are put away care- 

,, , T^ . r^ 1 • • fullv, just as a child under a natu- 

L ) Reviews or larger devisions .-.-', . , , ^^- ^ 

. , * , ,, ral impulse picks up the prettiest 

?xt can be based upon the 111 

pebbles. 

These associations everj^ mind 

makes unconsciously, more or less 

as his experiences have developed 

the principle with him. It will 

J , . ^ • r make the principle conscious with 

appended specimen topics tor re- , • r, ^ v,^ -r *u 

f ^ r ^1 • 1 i. Mr 1 him alter a while, it the associa- 

views 01 this character: m/^.a 



Polk's Administration, reviewed is 
given below. 

WAR WITH -MEXICO. 

Gen. Taylor-Gen. Scott-Santa 
Anna-Rio Grande-Palo Alto-Mon- 
terey-Capt. May-Buena Vista- 
Capt. Bragg-Vera Cruz-Cerro Gor- 
do-Puebla, etc., etc, 

(C) Rev 
of the text can be based upon 
prominent men mentioned, or upon 
historical places. The associations 
for the review work can be gath- 
ered in the same manner outlined 
under direction (/?). Below are 



ington : (rrant ; Jackson ; 
mond ; \ Vashington City 
Orleans ; Slavery ; Texas 
Money ; etc., etc. 

The effect of giving the lessons as directed 
under (.'f), is to cultivate a habit in the child's 



Wash- 
Rich- 
Neu' 

Paper 



tions are voluntaril}^ suggested by 
his teacher. 

I. Have the children fill out 
such tables as are presented below, 
you supplj-ing the dates at first, 
and at repetitions supplying the 



in him the habits of investigation and inquiry. 
The effect of the reviews (j^) and (f) will be to 
cause him to know that all details are connected 



mind, of demanding complete and correct con- plaCCS, the pCrSOnS, Or the eVClltS. 
cepts from his reading. This demand will form The WOrk for SOmC time OUght to 

be conducted as a class exercise. 
As the power to do develops, it may 

a historical narrative, and this knowledge be changed tO a Seat CXCrcise. 
DATES. ITvACES. PERSONS. i; VENTS. 

March 29, 1847 ; Vera Cruz ; Gen. Scott; Capture of Vera Cruz ; 

April 18, 1847; Cerro Gordo; Santa Anna; Defeat of Mexicans; 

Aug. 7, 1S47 ; Pueblo ; Scott's Army ; Resumed march to Mexico ; 

.\ug. 19, 1847; Contreras; Scott, Santa Anna; Battle 14 miles from Mexico. 
vSept. 8, 1847 ; Chapultepec; American Army ; Storming and capture of Fortress; 
Sept. 14, 1847; City of Mex.; American Army; Occupation of City. 



56 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



■ ^f ^^P^^-t^h^ work till the habit readiness the children display in 

IS lormed of making associations supplying the data for the reviews 

natural y m reading. The growth recommended under (A) and (B) 

01 the habit will be shown by the in the last example. 

CHAPTER IX. 

ILLUSTRATIVE LESSONS. ARITHMETIC. 

J" I -^ HE instruction gen erally given 
c-^ in school in Arithmetic, is 
based on an agreed definition for 
number. Now when a child re- 
peats this definition, I do not be- 
lieve that he understands the prin- 
ciple underlying it very often. 
Indeed I have known scores of 
teachers who did not comprehend 
it. The fact is that nine chidren 
out of ten, counting the whole 
country, are started wrong. I read 
with a shudder, a few days ago in 
th- very latest, and highest author- 
ity on arithmetic teaching: "The 
first thing children ought to be set 

at is counting." The author went 

so far as to advise counting iciihozd 

objects. He said it was "easy to 

learn." And so it is we all know, 

but such teaching parallels exactly 

the practice of speUing through 

the " Blue Back " before taking up 

reading. Children in the one case 

learn to call words without thinking 

of the meaning, they become shal- 
low readers. In the other case 

they learn to read numbers, and to 

psrform operations in them without 

attributing value to them; they are 

crippled in their development. 

I favor going back of the defini- 
tion and giving first the knowledge 

upon which it is founded. That 

knowledge is an assimilation from 

perceived facts; it comes through 

attrition with numbers , it is born 

when the learner perceives that 

there is a resemblance common to 

all numbers. This resemblance 

which is " made up of like parts," 



needs a name to its discoverer. If 
given before the demand for it is 
born in his intellect, the chances 
are that he will never discover 
what a number is, though he may 
cipher his way up to the calculus. 
Inasmuch as an entire number of 
this series is to be devoted to arith- 
metic. I will present only one 
example to show how the pupils 
may be led to the assimilation of a 
working principle. 

Example I. 

Problem : To teach the ideiitity 
a7id variety of numbers. 

If I were to ask you to tell me 
the points of identity between two 
men that you had never seen, could 
you not do it ? And could you not 
also tell many points in which they 
would probably vary? Could you 
not also determine the conditions 
(all of them) in which they should 
agree in order to be exactly alike? 
Now if you can do this for A and 
B, two numbers that I have in mind, 
you are prepared to understand 
what follows, if not, j'ou had bet- 
ter consider closely the following 
questions, so as to be able to give 
the lessons with profit to your chil- 
dren. Why are two objects called 
men} Why are two others called 
number s'>. The answer in both 
cases is because they have essential 
resemblances. The essential re- 
semblance in numbers is that they 
are composed of things (units) that 
arc alike. The first thing I like to 
do with children then, is not "to 



IJUIvUSTRATIVE LESSONS. ARITHMETIC. 



57 



set them to counting," but to bring 
them into contact with numbers, 
and lead them to discover through 
the natural operations of their 
intellects, the properties of num- 
bers. 

Following the directions below 
will assist materially in giving the 
proper start, because they question 
the intellect from the beginning. 

1. Ask the children under in- 
struction to make with jack straws, 
on their desks some figure of which 
you give the copy on the board, 
thus : D 

2. Question upon the resem- 
blance between John's and James' 
figures. It is possible to get all to 
perceive that they are alike. Many 
will see the resemblance or rather 
that they ought to resemble even 
without seeing the other children's 
figures. 

3. Have each child to make a 
bundle of his straws, then question 
as to the resemblances of the 
bundles. It is possible to get all to 
decide that the bundles are the 
same. When pressed for an answer 
children will say " no bigger," 
"same size," "just alike," etc. 
They are feeling even now the de- 
mand for the word number to ex- 
press the resemblance they have 
perceived. 

4. Practice the same routine 
with teepees, triangles, crosses, stars, 
ladders, etc., etc. 

5. Have one section of the chil- 
dren make triangles, another stars, 
another ladders, etc. Dissolve the 
figures into bundles. Have them 
to find bundles (numbers) that are 
the same. And that are different. 
And to find two bundles that put 
together will be the same or differ- 
ent from another. Have them to 
determine whether one is more or 
less than another. 

All this work .so far must be done without 



counting. I think you would know that the 
.straws in a teepee put with those in a square, are 
the same as those in a ladder, hy perceiving and 
comparing alone. Why not allow the children 
then to get similar facts through their experi- 
ences rather than through testimony, as counting 
for a proof always is. 

6. By the time this much is done, 
children ought to be accustomed to 
use the term "number" that you have 
introduced, to name what they des- 
ignate as "bunch" or "bundle." 
Now lead them to compare the 
numbers they have dealt with by 
proper questions. You can easily 
get them to observe that there is as 
great a variety in numbers, as there 
is in children. And that a num- 
ber is no longer the same when 
you remove a straw. And that one 
can be made the same as another, 
by putting straws on or taking 
them off. 

7. Continue the practice of these 
six directions, with other objects 
than straws, until the idea of num- 
ber is made generic in their under- 
.standings. 

8. When you perceive that the 
demand for names, for different 
numbers is clearly established with 
them, proceed to teach them to 
count the numbers in order to find 
the names. Extend the counting 
instruction to embrace counting 
not only by ones, but by twos and 
threes, 'n.udL fours. This cannot of 
course all be done at once, it is 
only after they know that i and i 
are 2, that the}-- are prepared to 
count by 2's ; so until they know 
by experience all the ways 3 can 
be made, they are not prepared to 
count by 3's. 

9. Induce the children to make 
two numbers that are not the same 
identical, by putting straws to the 
smaller, or by taking straws from 
the larger. Manage the exercise 
so that the name of the number is 
not apparent at a glance. After 



53 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



they have agreed from observing 
the manipulation that they are the 
same, count one and find its name. 
Then ask for the name of the other. 
Hold them in observation till they 
can give its name confidently with- 
out counting. Write results thus : 
8 straws. 8 straws. 

They will know that they are 
the same, and will say if you ques- 
tion them ; "8 strazvs is the same 
in number as 8 .straws." Write 
this answer in full. 

Now use straws and marbles and 
make two numbers the same. 
Write results : 

8 straws. 8 marbles. 

Compare the two results and get 
their opinions of both. You will 
find that they will perceive that 
the first 8's are alike in kind and 
number, while the second set are 
alike in number but differ in kind. 
Adopt the sign =: to mean " the 



same in number and kind," and 
write : 8 strazvs = 8 straws. 

10. Continue with the same 
practice with other numbers, until 
the principle that two numbers are 
identical onl}^ when their parts are 
the same, is firmly fixed in their 
minds. 

11. Extend the instruction to 
such results as : 

5 straws =^ 3 straws X 2 straws. 

This is best done by making two 
identical numbers according to 
previous directions, and then sepa- 
rating one of them into parts, de- 
veloping the sign X to mean " put 
with." The result above is under- 
stood, thus : 5 straw is the same i?i 
nimiber as 3 straivs put -with 2 straws. 

12. Continue this practice till 
the facts of the addition table are 
discovered by the children. 

1 would advise learningr only to lo. 



CHAPTER X. 



FORMULATION OF PRINCIPLES FOR TEACHERS. 



jN this series of chapters those 
gJLj who have read them attentively 
will remember that I first tried to 
get my readers to understand what 
I meant by the term, principle. 
Next, I brought to their attention 
the fact that the human mind is or- 
ganized to act according to princi- 
ple. In other words, I claimed that 
man is not an imitative animal by 
nature, but that he acts in all 
things in obedience to an intelligent 
will, which stands above his phj'si- 
cal being and directs it. Further- 
more I discussed the functions of a 
principle in the abstract in its rela- 
tions to life, and investigated the 
process of the formation of work- 
ing principles (the " I must's " that 
govern our actions). Commencing 
with the fourth chapter and ex- 



tending through to this, I have 
given a method for engrafting cer- 
tain working principles upon the 
minds of pupils. Many examples 
were given in all, embracing in 
their scope teachings in arithmetic, 
in grammar, in geography, in his- 
tory and in language. 

I wish to devote this chapter to 
a study of the practical lessons 
given b}' outline with a view of de- 
ducing a few general "I nuist's " 
for the teacher's guidance. I ven- 
tured to hope in the outset that 
many of my readers desired "to 
teach by principle," and not to ex- 
periment. I have lead them thus 
far and have as yet formulated 
nothing for their guidance. Why ? 
In the second chapter I said, "No 
one can tell another a principle." 



FORMULATION OF PRINCIPLES FOR TEACHERS. 



59 



This I believe firmly, and hence I 
have diligently toiled to construct 
an experience for them through 
which they might be able to grasp 
the thought of what I shall at last 
have to put into words. Words 
and sentences are but platitudes if 
they do not arouse to thought and 
action. I could have written out 
the principles at the beginning, but 
I knew they would be meaningless 
to nearly all my readers without an 
experience. I have tried to make' 
that experience what it should be 
by asking you to conduct certain 
experiments with your own minds, 
and with classes of children. If 
you have doiie this you are pre- 
pared to enter upon the study with 
me. 

Presuming that all understand 
that it is the intellect of the the 
child that is to be guided by teach- 
ing it, I would call attention to the 
following facts : 

The intellect can (i) recognize 
objects, (2) observe their resem- 
blances and differences, and (3) 
retain its observations as separate 
objects. 

These powers I wish to name (i) 
Observing, (2) Comparing and (3) 
Assimilating. 

A man sitting in a chair wills to 
rise. He leans forward and brings 
his feet beneath him as preparatory 
movements before he rises. These 
preparatory actions while we can 
name them and think of them sep- 
arately, are essentially a part of 
the rising, and the latter can not 
be perfected without them. In 
exactly a parallel sense I wish 3'ou 
to understand the acts named 
above. "Obser\'ing" and "Com- 
paring" are essentially parts of 
the act "Assimilating." The anal- 
ysis thus considered reduces the 
answer to the question, " What can 
the intellect do?" to one brief 



statement, viz : // can grow like a 
tree. 

But it is admitted that all our 
knowledge (intellectual growth) 
comes through our senses. How ? 
A physical object comes before the 
phj'sical eye behind which is an 
intellect. That intellect ( i ) recog- 
nizes it as an entity, (2) compares 
it with others it is holding as 
thought-objects, and (3) puts it in 
its proper niche. This is the pro- 
cess by which sense-objects become 
thought-objects. Thought-objects 
are the very substance of the intel- 
lect. This substance is constantly 
being added to by the action of the 
senses, bringing in new substance 
from the world around, and by the 
self-groicth of the intellect assimila- 
ting ne7V thought-objects by comparing 
the atoms of its oivn gro7cth. 

It is perfectly clear then that the 
mind, feeding upon nature and 
upon itself, has no limit to its 
growth. 

In teaching, then, you are nour- 
ishing immortal souls, the law of 
whose being is to grow, ever ex- 
panding but never attaining unto 
the Infinite, who gave them being 
" in his own likeness." 

This much of psychology has 
seemed to me necessary to make 
the explanations I shall give far- 
ther along, perfectly apparent and 
to secure j^our comprehension of 
the first principle I formulate for 
you : 

To teach is to indnce the intellect 
to add to its substance. 

All teaching, then, must begin 
with sense-objects, since these must 
be transformed into thought-objects 
before growth has been attained. 
A sure te.st of whether a sense- 
object has been transformed into a 
thought-object is to see it without 
seeing it, to hear it without hear- 
ing it, or to touch it without touch- 



6o 



PRINCIPLES IN TEACHING. 



ing it; or in other words, to 
imagine it. If one has the power 
of imagining a sense-object, then 
he has a thought-object correspond- 
ing to it. This, in common par- 
lance is called remembering it. 

Now refer to the examples given. 
In every one of them you r/ill ob- 
serve that a number of sense- 
objects or thought-objects were 
taken as a basis. These were sel- 
ected as having the principle 
desired to be assimilated as a 
resemblance extending through the 
group. That resemblance when 
expressed in words becomes the 
principle desired to be taught. 
The teacher by his questions or 
actions must manage to get the 
pupils (i) to observe the several 
units composing the "whole" or 
group of objects, (2) to compare 
them with the end (in his mind) of 
having them to discover the resem- 
blance. When they have discov- 
ered the resemblance, the principle 
has been assimilated. In the spel- 
ling exercise, for instance, it was 
recommended to take an action 
(sense-object) and another resem- 
bling it, and another, and another, 
all resembing the original one. 

This principle of repetition is an old one in 
educational literature, but i t l:as been dread^ull j' 
misundcrstocd. It is a commo:i practice to have 
children write the same v.-ord (form) ten or even 
fifty times in order to Icaru the spelling; ; end 
children in free America are made to rocile 
tables and definitions Chinese fachicn in order 
to remember them. S-.:ch repetitions stunt 
grov.-'.h rather than promote it, because variety 
(it tahcs tv.-o things at Icact to be able to inalic a 
comparison) is the nutriment of the intellect. 
Rcpcliticns inuct be of one thought (resem- 
blance) in a variety of dress (sense-objects or 
thought-object:.. 

It was recommended to name 
the actions as they were recognized, 
(iststep) to compare them (2nd 
step). This was done by varying 
the action slightly each time, thus 
forcing the pupils to keep the re- 



semblance prominent. This resem- 
blance {walki7ig in the example 
given,) would become a thought- 
object, and all other resembling 
actions illustrated would be associ- 
ated with it. Its meaning would 
become generic. The assimilation 
(what the pupil would retain) from 
this lesson, would be " how that 
word was learned." This becomes 
a thought-object. Each succeeding 
lesson being like the first gives 
another thought-object. The whole 
series of lessons constitute another 
"whole" through which the intel- 
lect by observing the resejnblance 
extending through them, a.ssimilates 
(makes a rule) for learning the 
meaning cf words. 

All t!ie lessons follow the same 
general plan, i. e., of making a 
group or "wbole" as a basis for 
the instruction given. Read them 
over and you will be able to find 
the units of each "whole." They 
are sometimes numbered i, 2, 3, 
etc., and again as a, b, c, etc. In 
most of the examples as in the 
spelling alluded to above, the les- 
sons day after day form a " whole" 
for a higher assimilation. 

These remarks make it clear 
that: 

Prin I. // is tlu'oiigh a " whole" 
as a medium that the iyitellect assimi- 
lates any and every trtiih. There- 
fore, if yovL teach the intellect at 
all, 5-ou miist arrange groups for 
comparison. 

:i; -^ ^; ;;; ;;; ;;: 

Compare the nine e:ccrcises 
given, asking yourself why it is 
necessary to form a "whole," i. e., 
to do the same thing over and over. 

Why it is necessary to coax out 
of the children day after day, a 
story [see example — under Lan- 
guage] that you have in mind? 
Why not tell them at once how to 
write a sentence, how to plan it, 



FORMULATION OF PRINCIPLES FOR TEACHERS. 



6l 



how to do everything in fact. This 
is the old way that has made com- 
position such a faikire in schools. 
Try the telling plan — I dare say 
you have already tried it— and 
learn that failure is inevitable. 
Every one of the examples recog- 
nizes the fact that telling a principle 
is impossible. Every one of them 
is planned to produce a gradual 
growth commencing in nnconscioiis- 
ness at first, and ending in conscious 
recognition of the truth. Every 
one of them recognizes the binding 
force of: 

Prin. II. All intellectual acts are 
at first unconscious. Therefore if 
you teach according to principle, 
you must refrain from telling your 

pupil. 

\ * * * ^-1^ * 

Many who have read these arti- 
cles and wh© have been able to 
make the comparisons I have sug- 
gested, and to endorse both princi- 
ples above, will yet fail to apply 
the system I am unfolding if they 
fail to see certain other principles 
that are likwise discoverable in 
them. 

Compare these lessons now with 
the view of discovering the motive 
operating upon the pupil in each 
case when the truth dawns upon 
him. In every case it will be found 
that the pupil in his work is moved 
to action by an impulse which is 
pleasing to him, and which is in no 
degree related to the end he reaches. 

In Example 4, Chapter VI, day 
after day he is telling things that 
he has been led to discover in pic- 
tures, totally unconscious of his 
teacher's motive, which is to have 
him learn hoiu to do what he is doing. 
In Example 5, Chapter VI, he tells 
what he sees at various times in 
forms before him, delighting to do 
it because his senses and his mind 
are thereby employed, unconscious 



of the teacher's aim, which is 
simply to lead him to discover how 
to describe objects. In all the 
examples the same observation can 
be made, the same plan is apparent. 
From this comparison I conclude : 

Prin. III. Assimilation of truth 
is a self act. Therefore, if you 
teach correctly, you tnust allow 
your pupils to think for themselves, 
not suggesting the end j^ou are 
aiming to reach with them. 

Again, comparing these lessons 
with the view of ascertaining the 
exact status of the pupil's mind 
when the light bursts upon it, that 
is, when in answer to the question 
" why," he is able to put into lan- 
guage any of his observations, j^ou 
will find that the thrill one feels at 
first sight of Niagara Falls, or any 
other great work of nature, per- 
vades his answer. His emotion of 
surprise in discovering that he 
knows a truth, really, is paralleled 
by the feelings of one who finds a 
diamond in a desert waste. 

These observations lead to the 
following, which are corallaries of 
Prin. Ill: 

Prin. IV. Assimilation is coji- 
t rolled by the environment. 

Prin. V. Assimilation is without 
the domain of the will of the pupil. 

Therefore, if you guide your 
pupils aright you must environ 
them with circumstances and let 
them act freel)^ ; you must throw the 
truth you design to teach among 
the pebbles you ask them to sort, 
and allow them to find it acciden- 
tally. It was thus that the telescope 
and the daguerreotype were in- 
vented; it was thus that Watts 
learned the power of steam, and 
thus that Newton made his great 
discovery. Thus, in fact, are all 
atoms of growth added to every in- 
tellect. Blessed is the pupil who 
has a teacher wise enough to know 



62 



PRINCIPLEvS IN TEACHING. 



this fact, and expert enough to di- 
rect his thinking by questions that 
wil) lead him along pathways strewn 
with diamonds of truth. 

Comparing the whole series of 
Illustrative Lessons with the view 
of seeing the relations of what the 
pupil is • required to do, and of 
what he is required to say, while 
he is engaged learning the "how" 
of any process it will be noticed 
that his answer to any question is 
given to describe his sense percep- 
tions of the things he has been 
required to do, i. e., observe. 

In the spelling illustration the 
walking, striding, marching, zuandcr- 
ing, etc., all spoke to him first in 
nature's language, gave him knowl- 
edge, just as the beaming sun upon 
his head tells him to seek the shade, 
and just as the gentle zephyr fan- 
ning his cheek whispers a tale of 
sunny glades and delightful reclin- 
ings. The written forms intro- 
duced by the teacher and made by 
him, in that act, became symbols 
of the things observed. In the 
picture lessons, in the exercises for 
learning how to describe objects, 
how to divide, in fact, in every illus- 
tration care was taken to have 
every unit or step of the "whole" 
make its natural impression on his 
senses. Each question was de- 
signed to bring out the pupil's de- 
scription of those impressions. 
Each change in expression to con- 
ventional forms was managed so as 
to get the pupil to adopt the sug- 
gested form as the proper sj^mbol 
for the natural language. The nat- 
ural language and the written form 
were ever in juxtaposition at the 
time of the adoption of the latter, 
one preceeding the other. These 
observations lead to another prin- 
ciple which is very important for 
the teacher who wishes to succeed : 



Prin. VI, Formulation of obser- 
vations (spoken or written language) 
fclloci's and nuist be associated zvith 
assimilation. 

Therefore, you must refrain from 
allowing 3'our pupils to learn words 
through the meanings of other 
words. One can never be certain 
what meaning ma}' be "associated 
by another mind with a word. It 
is certain that neighbor and Jiood 
convey very diverse ideas to boys 
in the cit}' and country respectively. 
Not long ago I discovered that in- 
step meant one thing to me and a 
contrary thing to a little boy with 
whom I was thrown. I was once 
very much surprised to find that a 
boy in my history class thought the 
British had burned three or four 
buildings at Concord, he having 
read of their burning the stores 
there. A little girl who had writ- 
ten " My mother ejaculated the dish- 
water," was asked to explain. She 
turned to her defining book and 
pointed to the meaning. There it 
was : Ejaculate; to throic out. 

Nothing is more certain than that 
every word has an idea differing 
from ever}- other word. If two 
words in time come to mean ex- 
actly the same, one will live and 
the other become obsolete. There 
is no such thing as " a definition in 
other words." Each word signifies 
a something different from every 
other thing, and hence defines itsellF. 

If the principle above was strictly 
observed by teachers the next gen- 
eration would all hear alike and 
would all get equivalent ideas from 
their reading. The stock in trade 
of controversialists would be de- 
.stroyed and parties in politics and 
religion would be brought nearer 
together. 

When all teachers do recognize 
its demands, and literally observe 
them, (and I am sure they will 



FORMULATION OF PRINCIPLES FOR TEACHERS. 



63 



some day) the word demagogue, 
which once meant a leader of the 
people, which now means a leader 
of ignorant people, a dealer in plat- 
itudinarian phrases which sound 
wise, will then be marked {Obs.) in 
the big dictionary, because then 
there will be no ignorant people 
who must be led, since every man 
will be able to think for himself and 
lead himself. 

Comparing the work of the illus- 
trations, noticing the end reached 
in each case,. and speculating upon 
the effect the learning of principles 
in this 2vav has upon the boy's char- 
acter as manifested in his conduct, 
I think you will discover that he 
grows in zvillingncss to do, in ability 
to do, in adaptability to do and in 
desire to do, as he learns principle 
after principle. Each new truth, 
as has been noted, comes to him as 
a precious and valuable jewel which 
he has stumbled upon. When one 
finds a diamond he does not throw 
it away but sells it and invests the 
proceeds. When Watts saw the lid 
of the kettle move he rested not 
till he found the principle and ap- 
pHod it. When Newton saw the 
apple fall he writhed in thought 
till he saw the fixed stars circling 
in great orbits. When the watch- 
maker caught an accidental glimpse 
of the distant tower he experi- 
mented till he perfected the ma- 
chinery for "seeing afar off." 
When the little boy learns the 
meaning of striding and of a score 
of others in the right way, when 
he has, in fact, assimilated, not 



memorized, their meanings; when 
he has an intellect enlarged by this 
knowledge ; how to be able to know 
the meanings of strange words; he 
is attentive and watchful, he notes 
what actions, etc., are named by 
cultured persons with certain words. 
This is the rule he has learned to 
work by ; he needs no dictionary. 
Does he grow in knowledge day by 
day ? Can there be a doubt of it ? 
When a pupil has been taught con- 
secutively the various " hows " of 
school work, and each has become 
a thought object with him, and 
stands ever at the portal of his un- 
derstanding, eager to serve him as 
his needs arise, will he not in intro- 
spective moments, just as a boy 
idly counts the marbles in his poc- 
ket, pass his treasures in review^ 
and discovering resemblancts in 
these various forms of doing, make 
rules for the " hows " of busy life? 
These considerations based upon 
observations of the effect of the 
illustrations given upon the after 
work of the children, and linked 
with observations based upon the 
recollections I have of how I 
learned all the things that I know 
2ix\^ practice, suggest the following 
comprehensive truth: 

Prin. VII. The mind, having as- 
similated a truth by intellectual action, 
has an innate tendency to apply it. 

Therefore, if you expect to fulfill 
the end you ought to have had in 
view in becoming a teacher, viz., 
to help the character of your pu- 
pils, you must so conduct yourself 
that they shall assimilate and not 
memorize what they learn. 



Advertisements, 



(64) 



A1J\'KKT1SE-MHN'TS. 



65 



IHf m IliRICIlN T[I1CH[RS' MU 

.VNNOIJNCEiVIKNT. 



The unilersifriK'tl, liaviii!; liail marly twcnty-tivc years cxpcMiLiue luid business acuuaiiitaucu with Teach- 
ers and Edueator.s, and the Eduealional Iiistitiitimis in the l'. S. bi)tli public and private, proposes to es- 

'""""the new AMERICAN TEACHERS' AGENCY. 

The endeaviir of this Aiteney will be to fuini^^li teachers and educators with accurate information, as to 
vacancies and positions to be filled : also, to furnish Boards of Education, Private Scliools, Colleges and Em- 
ployers of teachers, accurate and reliable information as to the merits of applicants for positions, always en- 
deavoring to recommend the right teacher to the right place. 

This new Teachers' Agency will have the advantage of new names, and be able to serve teachers apply- 
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Its location near the center of population of the U. S., the long acquaintance of its manager with the 
wants of teacliers and employers all over the country, and the confidence manifested iji its success, by hun- 
dreds of letters of endorsement, already received, lead the undersigned to hope for a liberal patronage from 
the Educational Public. 

C. B. KUGGLES, 
Uoom (.'. Palace Motel Buildins. 1 Late Agent. T>. Appleton A Co. 1 

Cincinnati, Ohio. 
Nov. 1st, I.ssni. 



By ALLEN and GAINES. 



0. W. McDonald, Principal High School, Stoneham, Mass., Author of Geometry 
for Secondary Schools, Etc., Says: 

.\ Purpo.se .\.n'd Pl.^n ixTe.4CHing : What, perhaps, more than all things else, makes the re- 
sults of schooling so flimsy is because ninety-nine out of a hundred teachers (possibly one morel 
have no conception of any purpose in the branch they are teaching, save that it is something to 
be learned. To say to them that each branch of study has a purpose beyond the mere information 
it imparts, and that the method of teaching by which this purpose is attained is, as aflfecting the 
mental furnishing of the pnpil, a thousand times more valuable than the information itself, is to 
talk Sauskrit to them. It is refreshing, therefore, to find in the profession the 1 ara avis that has 
ideas, and plans consistent with his ideas. I have such icieas and plans in a little monograph en- 
titled Pedagogics, a book hardly known here at the North, but which I am persuaded ought to be 
better known. 

H. H. SEERLEY, President Iowa State Normal Schools, Cedar Falls, Iowa, Says: 

I read the monograph, Pedagogics, as soon as received, and was much pleased with it as well as 
interested in it. I believe that you have here prepared one of the best if not the best statement of 
applied psychology and philosophy for the science and practice of teaching; and I believe you 
can afford to develop the work, farther expanding it as well as illustrating it so that it can be used 
as a class book on pedagogics to a greater extent than this permits. 

Price: 50 Cts. in Paper, 75 Cts. in Cloth. 



Address ALLEN & GAINES, 



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History. Theory. Practice. 

A COMPLETE PROFESSIONAL LIBRARY FOR TEACHERS. 

Comprising seventeen volumes of tlie International Education Series, 
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For Full Descriptive List, address 

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OHIO Ieague teachers bureau, 

Cleveland, Ohio. E. S. Loomis, Manager. 

Membership in this Bureau enrolls you. in the 
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three persons sending the largest list of 

subscribers before Sept. I, 1891. 

FORWARD SUBSCRIPTIONS AS RECEIVED. 

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'file Kduealor Company i.-< th( 

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Fi^ n Vew Ensl« •rt.-Kev. .\, D. Mayo, Boston : Prof. H. E. Holt, Boston ; 5!iss Anna B. Badlam. 
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Froni the Middle States.-Supt. McAlister, of Phila.lelphia ; Pres Sharpless, Haverford College. 
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An Efficient System of Memory Development by Chas. G. Leland, F.R.S.L., 

TAUGHT I> SIX OT-VNUAliS— 



The Mastery of Memorizing. 
Quickness of Perception. 
Ear Memory and Eye Memory. 

Specimen pages and an address on the system mailed on receipt of ten cents 



IV. 

V. 

VI. 



The Study of Languages. 

Memory and Thought, 

Memory Training of the Young. 



Jas. P. Downs, Publisher, 243 Broadway, N. Y. P. O. Box, 1202. 



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